PRESS RELEASE

LINCROFT, NJ — This past summer, the Monmouth County Park System’s Urban Recreation Department offered its Extreme Team camp to 62 boys and girls from some of the county’s urban areas . The camp offers at least a dozen adventure-based/extreme sports activities and other recreational pursuits at five different park areas over a five-day period. With transportation to and from the parks, and all the necessary equipment—from sleeping bags to boogie boards to in-line skates—provided by the Park System, it’s easy for campers to participate. Plus, the camp is reasonably priced at only $10. Subsidized by Friends of the Parks (a non-profit fundraising organization) and with time and resources contributed by at least three other park departments (Outdoor Recreation, Sport and Fitness and Park Naturalists), the Urban Recreation staff is able to offer a veritable “buffet” of recreation experiences for camp participants.

Participants in the Monmouth County Park System’s Extreme Team summer camp test their courage on the High Ropes Challenge Course. Pictured here, the group spots one participant as he scales the ropes, ultimately climbing 30-40 feet in the air.

Many of the 12-15 year olds who attend the camp each summer may not get another chance to sample the Park System’s recreational opportunities, so Program Leaders schedule at least 12 activities during the week, including an overnight camping trip. In what amounts to a whirlwind tour of the county parks and facilities, the campers (now, take a deep breath) visit:

• Manasquan Reservoir in Howell on Monday for introductory games and team-building activities, a guided boat tour of wetlands ecology and habitat (including viewing the park’s nesting Bald Eagle pair, ospreys and herons) and a kayaking expedition followed by role-planning for participatory events later in the week;
• Thompson Park in Lincroft on Tuesday morning to take part in a confidence-boosting adventure activity on the High-Ropes Challenge course which involves climbing 30-40 feet in the air, followed by craft activities at the Creative Arts Center in the afternoon;
• Seven Presidents Oceanfront Park in Long Branch on Wednesday for in-line skating and instruction at the Skateplex, boggie-boarding in the ocean, followed by volleyball and sand sculpting on the beach;
• Two parks on Thursday, beginning with Shark River Park in Neptune for a fossil study that involves sifting through a creek bed for shark’s teeth and other treasures followed by a pond study where campers learn to use seining nets and identification tools to observe tadpoles, dragonfly larvae, and other creatures first-hand; then, its off to Turkey Swamp Park in Freehold for paddle-boating on the lake and swimming in the pool followed by an overnight camp-out where participants set up their own site, learn how to build a campfire and cook their own food. On Friday morning, the campers write a letter about their experience, pack-up, and are home by noon.

According to Courtney Bison, an Assistant Supervisor with Urban Recreation, “For many of the kids, this is their first camping trip and their first time overnight in the woods. The peace and

quiet, the darkness, even the sound of tree frogs and crickets may be a completely new experience for them—and that’s exciting to see.” “Others,” Bison continues, “have never been in a kayak or paddle-boat before, so the camp may be teaching them how to overcome a fear of water.”

This adventure-based activity, one of many offered during the Park System’s 5-day Extreme Team summer camp, takes place at the High Ropes Challenge Course. While harnessed and under the watchful eye of experienced staff, this brave participant tests his confidence by climbing up onto a small platform.

While the “favorite” activity may be different for each participant, all the campers learn what resources are available to them, basically “in their own neighborhood,” said Bison. The type of exposure that participants get at the Extreme Team camp, hopefully gives them the freedom to come back and enjoy the parks again, maybe next time with friends or family. A few past participants have come back as “park interns,” and are now working part-time in the parks for their third summer in a row.

For more information on programs available through the Monmouth County Park System’s Urban Recreation program, please call (732) 460-1167. A complete listing of the Park System’s 4,000 programs, activities, events and trips is available in the free Park System Directory, published 5 times a year. Call (732) 842-4000, ext. 4313 to have a copy mailed to your home. The Directory is also available for pick up in most county parks and libraries and online at monmouthcountyparks.com.

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press release

Information Meeting To Be Held September 20, 6:30 p.m.

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — Volunteers are needed for Middletown Day 2005 to be held on September 24 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Croydon Hall, rain or shine.

An information meeting will be held for volunteers on September 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the Croydon Hall Senior Center, 900 Leonardville Road, Leonardo. All are welcome and local and youth organizations are encouraged to volunteer. Volunteers receive a free hat and t-shirt when they check-in on Middletown Day. A minimum commitment of four hours is required. Call Volunteer Coordinator Robyne Hastick at (732) 615-2265 for more information.

Sponsorship opportunities are also still available. Call (732) 615-2260 ext. 2235 to support this annual tradition.

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PRESS RELEASE

TINTON FALLS, NJ — Kati Beddow Brower will portray Angelina Grimke, the first American woman to speak out publicly against slavery, at 2 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10. 2005, in the Shrewsbury Quaker Meetinghouse, Broad St. (Route 35) and Sycamore Avenue, Shrewsbury. Grimke and her sister Sarah, born on an antebellum Southern plantation, became famous abolitionist and feminist writers and speakers, despite intense criticism. Admission to this event is free, but contributions for the artist are welcome. For more information, call (732) 741-4138 or (732) 775-3670 and leave a message, including contact information, or visit www.shrewsburyquakers.org or www.lcommotion.com.

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PRESS RELEASE

TINTON FALLS, NJ — The American Red Cross is launching the largest mobilization of resources in its history for a single natural disaster. Hurricane Katrina, a deadly Category 4 storm, is barreling ashore this morning along the Gulf Coast and has the potential to leave widespread devastation in its wake.

“Hurricane Katrina is wreaking havoc for southeast Florida and the Gulf coast states,” said Joe Becker, Senior Vice President of Preparedness and Response for the American Red Cross. “The Red Cross will meet the challenge by doing what we do best—coming together to respond with tireless compassion to take care of our neighbors.”

The Red Cross is mobilizing on all fronts to bring relief to storm victims. Over 120 people from all around the Northeast are either packing, on their way or already on the ground to provide emergency aid to the victims of Hurricane Katrina. More than two hundred Red Cross shelters are housing thousands of residents who fled Katrina’s wrath. The Jersey Coast Chapter has already deployed two volunteers, Jane Keeley of Toms River and Phyllis Stern of Brick Township, to Montgomery, Alabama, and from there they will be sent anywhere on the Gulf Coast that aid is needed. Three truck loads of shelter supplies were also sent out by the Jersey Coast Chapter to Louisiana this past Sunday, and comfort and clean-up kits are currently being deployed there as well. All available resources from across the country, including thousands of staff and volunteers are being moved to safe areas, so additional relief efforts can begin immediately after the storm passes. More than 200 emergency response vehicles (ERV’s) including 9 from the Northeast and countless other Red Cross resources are en route or on the scene to provide hot meals, snacks, bottled water and distribute other much-needed relief supplies. In coordination with the Southern Baptists, preparations have been made to provide more than 500,000 hot meals to storm-weary residents each day.

“We are prepared at every level for what will likely be a catastrophic disaster,” said Lois Grady-Wesbecher, Manager of the Disaster Operations Center at American Red Cross national headquarters. “When Mother Nature is at her worst, the American Red Cross is at its best.”

Hurricane Katrina strengthened into one of the fiercest storms ever seen in the U.S. Not only has Katrina intensified, but it has also grown substantially in size—it is now about 460 miles wide—the distance from New Orleans to Atlanta. Destruction from this storm will not be limited to coastal areas. After making landfall Hurricane Katrina will progress inland Monday leaving behind a trail of flooding rains and damaging winds, spreading across the country and eventually into the Northeast. The Red Cross will continue to provide a safe haven and disaster assistance to victims along its path.

American Red Cross disaster assistance is free, made possible by voluntary donations of time and money from the American people. You can help the victims of this and thousands of other disasters across the country each year by making a financial gift to the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, which enables the Red Cross to provide shelter, food, counseling and other assistance to those in need. Call 1-800-HELP NOW or 1-800-257-7575 (Spanish). Contributions to the Disaster Relief Fund may be sent to the Jersey Coast Chapter, PO Box 131, Tinton Falls, NJ 07724-0131 or to the American Red Cross, P. O. Box 37243, Washington, DC 20013. Internet users can make a secure online contribution by visiting www.redcross.org or www.jerseycoast-redcross.org.

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PRESS RELEASE

Monday, September 5th 

Last Day for the Middletown Swim and Tennis Club

            The Middletown Swim and Tennis Club celebrates the last day of the season. The club is located on the corner of Harmony and Old Country Roads. The club will reopen in May 2006. Call Parks and Recreation at (732) 615-2260 for more information.

Monday, September 5

Municipal Offices Closed for Labor Day

Tuesday, September 6^th, 8 p.m.

Township Committee meeting

            The meeting will be held in the conference room at Town Hall, 1 Kings Highway. Agendas can be accessed at www.middletownnj.org

Saturday, September 10^th, 11 a.m.

Leonardo WTC Memorial Events

State Leonardo Marina and Concord Avenue

            The day begins with a 9a.m. mass held at St Agnes Church, in Atlantic Highlands. At 11 a.m, a memorial service will be held at the Leonardo WTC memorial, located next to the Leonardo Marina on Concord Avenue. A memorial stone will be unveiled during the event. The memorial was erected by local citizens largely through donations. At noon, a flower ceremony will be held at the Port Monmouth Fishing Pier

            Call Tom Gagliastro at (732) 872-1022 for e-mail at Marathonss@aol.com for more information.

Saturday, Sept. 10, 2 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Art Reception

Middletown Public Library

            A reception will be held at the Middletown Library’s Gallery from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. for Lincroft resident and artist Christopher Taylor. His exhibit of oil paintings will be open from September 2-28. His work focuses on area gardens.  The Middletown Library is located at 55 New Monmouth Road and is open Monday-Thursday 9a.m.-9 p.m, and Friday-Saturday 9a.m.-5p.m. Call (732) 671-3700 for more information.

Saturday, September 10, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Adult Beginning Quilters Class

Poricy Park Annex, Oak Hill Road

            Making quilts is a craft and art that has become part of our nation’s heritage. Members of the Rebecca’s Reel Quilters Guild will teach the basic skills needed to create beautiful quilts. Meet at the Annex. Registration is required.  The fee is $50 for members, $75 for non-members. A materials list will be supplied upon registration. Call (732) 842-5966 for details.

Sunday, September 11, 11:30 am - 4:30p.m.

NY/NJ Baykeeper Clambake

Fort Hancock Auditorium, Sandy Hook

            This tasty annual fundraising event honors John Cronin, founding member of the WaterKeeper Alliance. The Baykeeper’s Outstanding Public Service Award, Nancy Zimmerman Memorial “Running With Scissors” Award and the Art Weimer Memorial Award for Achievements in Grassroots Environmentalism will be presented. Tickets are $75 for adults, $20 for children.  Visit www.NYNJBaykeeper.org for more information.  Tickets for the clambake and the kayak raffle can be purchased by calling 732-888-9870.

Sunday, September 11, Noon. 

Patriot Day Remembrance Service

VFW Post No. 2179.

            The Veteran's of Foreign Wars Post No 2179 and its Ladies Auxiliary will hold its annual Patriot Day Remembrance services on September 11 at noon at the post home at 1 Veteran's Lane and Route 36, Port Monmouth. This tribute to the memory of September 11 will be followed by a flag retirement program in which Scout Troops will participate.  Call the post at (732) 787-3620 for details.

September 11, 1 p.m.

Family Fossil Hunt

Poricy Park, Oak Hill Road

            Explore 70 million year old fossil beds of Poricy Park Brook with an experienced guide who will supply the trowels and screens and help identify finds. Dress for the weather and wear your rubber boots or old sneakers. Don’t forget to bring a container for your finds. Recommended for children over 5. No registration is required. Fee $5 per person. Call (732) 842-5966 for details.

September 11, 1:30 p.m.

The Quilts of Summer Opening Reception

Poricy Park, Oak Hill Road

            This summer seven beginning quilters under the watchful eyes of experienced Rebecca’s Reel quilters each made a quilt. These creations will be on display in the Nature Center September 11-October 7. The opening reception will be held on September 11, 1:30 p.m. The quilt guild’s meeting will be held at 2 p.m.  Call (732) 842-5966 for details.

Sunday, September 11, 2 p.m.

Monmouth County 9/11 Memorial Unveiled

Mt Mitchell, Ocean Blvd, Atlantic Highlands

            Monmouth County will unveil its 9/11 memorial at 2p.m. on September 11 at Mount Mitchell on Ocean Boulevard in Atlantic Highlands. Visit www. monmouthcounty911memorial.com for more information.

Saturday, September 17, 2 p.m. & Sunday, September 18, 2 p.m.

Herrman’s Original Lipizzan Stallions of Austria

Sunnyside Equestrian Center

            Special People United to Ride (SPUR) presents Herrmann’s Original Lipizzan Stallions of Austria on Saturday, September 17 and Sunday September 18 at 2p.m. Founded in the 16th century for the exclusive use of the Hapsburg Royal family of Austria, the Royal Lipizzans are unquestionably the rarest, most aristocratic breed of horses in the world.  The show will be held at the Sunnyside Equestrian Center is located at 628 Middletown-Lincroft Road. Visit www.herrmannslipizzans.com for more information on these unique animals

            Tickets can be bought in advance for $25 at B&B Saddlery, Red Bank, Tack Shop, Colts Neck and Rick’s Saddle Shop, Cream Ridge. Tickets at the door at $30. Call (732) 842-4000 ext 4422.       

            SPUR, a non-profit organization, works with the Monmouth County Parks System to provide people with disabilities the ability to reach personal goals through therapeutic horseback riding. Visit www.spuronline.org for more information.

 Friday, September 16th - 7:30 pm

23rd Annual POW/MIA Candlelight Services

Middletown VFW No. 2179

            The Middletown VFW Post 2179 and its Ladies Auxiliary will hold their 23^rd annual POW/MIA Candlelight Services at the post home located at 1 Veteran’s Lane and Route 36. Call the post at (732) 787-3620 for details.

Sunday September 18, 1-2:30 p.m.

Colonial Dying

Poricy Park, Oak Hill Road

            Join Interpreters Julee Csuri and Sara Winchell as they color yarns and garments the colonial way. See how onion skin, madder root, logwood dust, pokeberries and other substances are simmered over an open pit fire, then used to create a rainbow of colors. Skeins of wool are mordanted and ready to go. This program is free and no registration is required. Meet at the Murray Farm House located at Poricy Park. Call (732) 842-5966 for details.

Monday, September 19th –

Township Committee Meeting

            The Township Committee meeting will in the court room, Middletown Town Hall, 1 Kings Highway. Agendas can be found at www.middletownnj.org

Tuesday, September 20, 6:30pm

Volunteer Meeting for Middletown Day 2005

Croydon Hall Senior Center

            Volunteers are needed for Middletown Day 2005 to be held on September 24 from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Croydon Hall, rain or shine. An information meeting will be held for volunteers on September 20th at 6:30 p.m. at the Croydon Hall Senior Center, 900 Leonardville Road, Leonardo. All are welcome and local and youth organizations are encouraged to volunteer.

            Volunteers receive a free hat and t-shirt when they check-in on Middletown Day. A minimum commitment of four hours is required. Call Volunteer Coordinator Robyne Hastick at (732) 615-2265 for more information.

            Sponsorship opportunities are also still available. Call (732) 615-2260 ext. 2235 to support this annual tradition.

Tuesday, September 20, 7 p.m. – 9p.m.

MTCAC Adult Workshop Series.

Make Your Own Paper

Croydon Hall, 900 Leonardville Road

            Have you watched children immerse themselves in clay and paint and wished there were an adult play time? If you are interested in meeting other adults for a fun and casual art experience, these workshops are for you!  Artist Nanci Hersh will teach participants of this workshop to make beautiful papers from cotton fibers. Workshops are appropriate for both beginners and more experienced artists. 

            The workshop is free to members, but participants must pre-register by calling (732) 615-2000 x2419 All classes will be held at Croydon Hall from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Saturday, September 24th

Middletown Day 2005

Croydon Hall

            Middletown Day 2005, the township’s annual festival, will be held at Croyon Hall, 900 Leonardville Road from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. rain or shine. Admission is free. Free hats are given to the first 1,500 visitors

            This family fun day features hayrides, a craft fair, car show, carnival games, petting zone, pony rides, food court and rescue demonstrations by the Fire Department and First Aid squad volunteers. Live entertainment begins at 12:30 p.m. with Parrotbeach’s tribute to Jimmy Buffet, followed by Total Soul’s Motown sounds at 2:30 p.m. and The Brooklyn Reunion featuring The Mystics, the Classics and the Passions at 4:15 p.m.

            Parking at Croydon Hall is limited. Visitors are encouraged to take advantage of free parking at the Commuter Lot at Route 36 and Appleton Avenue, Kunkel Park located on Brevent Avenue and Bayview Elementary School located at 300 Leonardville Road.  Free round trip shuttle service is provided.  Visit www.middletownnj.org for more information.

Saturday, September 24th  - 7 p.m.

Middletown Fire Company No. 1

80th Anniversary Dinner Dance

            The fire company will celebrate its 80^th anniversary at Jacques Reception Center, Palmer Avenue.  Call (732) 842-0258 for more information.

September 26, 2005

Meet the Soldiers of the Civil War

Poricy Park, Oak Hill Road

            Costumed interpreters from group Past Muster will be presenting the 6^th New Jersey Volunteers. See first hand how the soldiers of the Civil War lived. View their uniforms and their weapons. Learn what adversities faced the young recruits and how they were trained. This event is free and no registration required. Meet at the Murray Farmhouse, located at Poricy Park. Call (732) 842-5966 for more information.

Thursday September 29, 7p.m. -9p.m.

MTCAC Adult Workshop Series

Play With Clay

Croydon Hall, Leonardo

                Have you watched children immerse themselves in clay and paint and wished there were an adult play time? If you are interested in meeting other adults for a fun and casual art experience, these workshops are for you!   Learn about different kinds of clay and enjoy  the wonderful world of creating art in 3-D at this workshop Each attendee will leave with their very own creation made with polymer clay. This workshop appropriate for both beginners and more experienced artists. 

            Workshops are FREE to members, but participants must pre-register by calling (732) 615-2000 x2419 All classes will be held at Croydon Hall  from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

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PRESS RELEASE

BROWNS MILLS , NJ — Green Party gubernatorial candidate Matt Thieke today condemned the recent attack by vandals against fellow gubernatorial candidate Ed Forchion's home in Browns Mills as "religious terrorism" and expressed solidarity with Mr. Forchion of the Legalize Marijuana Party.

"I was appalled to read about the vandalism done to Ed Forchion's home, and I contacted Mr. Forchion to personally express my sympathy and solidarity with him. I'm relieved that the authorities are investigating this attack as a bias crime, but this is more than just "bias". It was an act of terrorism by intimidation."

Thieke continued, "Even though no one was physically hurt and the scale of damage was small, this was not-so-subtle terrorism, committed from the same mindset of religious intolerance as that of the Taliban. If we are to live in a free society, we must protect and allow for different political and religious points of view. America was founded upon that ideal."

www.MattThieke.com

Ed Forchion's home was painted with a cross and the words Get Jesus.

http://www.njweedman.com/cross.htm

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press release

High School Juniors, Seniors, and Their Parents Are Invited to Attend.

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ — Monmouth University hosts its Annual Fall Open House for prospective students on Sunday, October 2, 2005. Registration will take place from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. at two locations: between Bey Hall and the Rebecca Stafford Student Center; and between Robert E. McAllen Hall and the Jules L. Plangere Jr. Center for Communication and Instructional Technology.

The day begins with a welcome from Monmouth University President Paul G.
Gaffney II in front of historic Wilson Hall, followed by the opportunity to gain insight into the Monmouth experience.

Monmouth University's Annual Fall Open House enables high school students and their parents to meet with members from all areas of the University, including faculty and administration. It provides an ideal opportunity to discuss the application and financial aid processes, as well as to learn about academic programs, student services, and social life at the University. Campus tours in English and Spanish are also offered.

"A visit to the campus is an integral part of the college selection process," said Claire Alasio, acting vice president for enrollment management. "It enables prospective students to experience, first-hand, the daily environment and atmosphere of a particular institution and the visit can be the defining factor in the decision-making process."

Monmouth University, an institution of distinction, combines state-of-the-art facilities and the vibrant environment of a large university with the individual attention of a small, liberal arts college.

Monmouth University is the first choice for many students. In fact, it has closed its freshman class on May 1 every year since 1994. At the same time, its average SAT score has increased approximately 100 points.
Monmouth University is listed in the "Best in the Northeast" by Princeton Review and is ranked in the top tier of Master's-North Universities in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.

Increased enrollment has led to numerous construction projects and the addition of more than 150 new faculty members. New academic programs, including biochemistry, computer graphics and design, marine and environmental biology, molecular cell physiology, software engineering, music industry, photography, and certificates in information technology and Hispanic language and literature, have been added as well. Using the ocean and estuaries as classrooms, Monmouth is launching its Marine Biology and Environmental Policy degree program for the Fall 2005 semester.

In addition to the Annual Fall Open House, the University also offers tours Mondays through Fridays. For more information contact the office of undergraduate admission at 732-571-3456 or 800-543-9671, or register online at www.monmouth.edu/openhouse

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PRESS RELEASE

RED BANK, NJ – The Red Bank Elks Lodge 233 will host a Pancake Breakfast on September 18, 2005 from 9AM-12PM at our lodge 40 West Front St, Red Bank, N.J. for only $8.00 per person, children under 10 donations please. This is to benefit two critically injured  marines serving with the 6th Motor Transport Battalion from the Red Bank Reserve Center. Come out and support them.

The Ladies Auxiliary of the Red Bank Elks Lodge 233 will host a Dinner/ Theatre Party at the Count Basie Theatre on  Monmouth St, Red Bank, NJ featuring the Pirates of Penzance on September 25, 2005 at 3.00 PM. Dinner to follow at the Red Bank Elks Lodge- 40 West Front St, Red Bank,  NJ at 5.00 PM. Tickets $32.00 each and only 80 tickets will be sold. So don't be left out. For information call Anne Nill at 732-741-6964. This is to benefit the Lodge Charities.

The Red Bank Elks Lodge 233 will host its annual Octoberfest Dinner on October 29, 2005 from 6PM to 11PM for only $20 per person. Tickets liimted to 130 and must be purchased by October 15, 2005. We will have a great menu of  sauerbraten, bratwust, and smoked pork chops Etc. You can purchase tickets at the bar or call our lodge at 732-741-9771.

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PRESS RELEASE

OCEAN CITY , NJ – A parade to honor Vietnam veterans will be held at 6 pm sat Sept 3 in Ocean City, NJ. The welcome Home Vietnam Veterans parade is a belated tribute to Vietnam Service personnel. The event is sponsored by the city of Ocean City and the United Veteran Council of Ocean City

The parades begins at the Music Pier and will proceed north on the Boardwalk to six street, concluding where there will be speeches and entertainment until 10:PM

All Vietnam veteran from New Jersey are invited to March!

Veterans are asked to report to the Music Pier at 5:30 PM

For more information call the Ocean City Public Relation Office at 609-525-9300

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PRESS RELEASE

VH1 Storytellers DVD Release Party September 6

LINCROFT, NJ – Brookdale Public Radio, 90.5 The NIGHT invites members and community interested in becoming members to an exclusive "members only" event to view Bruce Springsteen's 'VH1 Storytellers' DVD in its entirety at the Clearview Cinemas, Red Bank. The Tuesday, September 6 release party viewings will be held at 7:00 p.m. and at 9:00 p.m. Membership may be obtained prior to the show at www.90.5TheNIGHT.org. or at the Cinema door.

The event will feature Springsteen's complete performance recorded at the Two River Theatre, Red Bank. The DVD version of Springsteen's historic solo 'VH1 Storytellers' concert first aired on VH1 April 23. The stunning solo performance is approximately two hours long and features eight complete Springsteen songs including "Devils & Dust" and "Jesus Was an Only Son" from his recent acclaimed "Devils and Dust" album. The DVD presentation also contains Springsteen's detailed comments, introductions and anecdotes on the songs' origins. A previously unseen question and answer session with fans will also be shown.

"This is just one in a series of events planned to bring together the supporters of 90.5 The NIGHT," said Tom Brennan, Station Manager, Brookdale Public Radio. "Our annual fall membership drive will begin September 19 and we invite prospective members to join now and meet our current members at this exciting release party," he added.

For more information, contact Rich Robinson at 732-224-2432.

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PRESS RELEASE

KEANSBURG, NJ –The Keansburg Sons of the American Legion is seeking new members.

All male descendants, adopted sons and stepsons of members of The American Legion, and such male descendants of veterans who died in service during World 1, World War 11, Korean War, the Vietnam War, Lebanon, Grenada, Panama, and the Persian Gulf War, during the delimiting periods set forth in Article IV, Section 1, of the National Constitution of The American Legion, or who died subsequent to their honorable discharge from such service, shall be eligible for membership in the Sons of The American Legion.

Any interested person is urged to try and attend our Open House Meeting on Sunday, September 25, 2005 from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. Local, County and State representatives will be on hand to answer any questions and expedite the application process. To get more information, please feel free to visit our website, www.keansburgsal.org.

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PRESS RELEASE

RED BANK , NJ – Eileen Brennan-Watts of the Red Bank Elks Lodge 233 was named Elk of the Year for 2004-2005 and for good reason. Do to her dedication and leadership many major improvements have been made in our Lodge and I know she will continue to serve our Lodge and the community.

Eileen Brennan-Watts

Eileen has been involved in this Lodge for a long time. Starting when she and Gaylord (Mike) Watts, one of our trustees, were married on the patio in June of 1996. She started tending bar in 1999 and was initiated into the order on July 30, 2000.

She served as cashier from 2000 to 2003. Her next step was to become bar chairman in 2003, where she served until 2005. In 2005 she became the house chairman..

She was selected as the 2004-2005 Elk of the Year, an honor that is given to members who have proven that they are outstanding Elks and involved above and beyond the call of duty.

Eileen has been instrumental in initiating many programs that have created savings for the Lodge. Some of the programs that she was involved in were the restructuring at the bar which resulted in lower cost of goods sold. She started selling snacks instead of giving them away. She also contracted for a service to clean the Lodge once a week.

In addition, she has orchestrated the plan for the new phone system and has been instrumental in the purchase of a security system which will be installed in our lobby to control entry into the Lodge. Recently she was involved in the purchase and is one of the two people to control the pull tab raffle which helps fund our charities. The new chairs that adorn our dinning room are another result of her dedication along with the new sink behind the bar making the Red Bank Elks Lodge 233 much better

She has been a member of this Lodge for only five years and has always been part of the solution not the problem. She is always willing to help in all activities.

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PRESS RELEASE

WEST LONG BRANCH, NJ – Pulitzer Prize-winning editorial cartoonist, Steve Breen, will be returning to Monmouth County to help pay tribute to former boss, Jules L. Plangere, Jr. at this year's prestigious Monmouth University Award for Communication Excellence (MACE) Presentation Dinner on Thursday, September 22, 2005 at Monmouth University's historic Wilson Hall.

According to his official bio, Breen was about to become a high school history teacher when the Asbury Park Press offered him a job in the art department in July 1994. He became the full-time editorial cartoonist there in 1996. In April 1998, Breen won the Pulitzer Prize for editorial cartooning.

Steve Breen

Of working with Plangere, Breen commented, "Jules was friendly, approachable and even-keeled. He always wore a smile as he walked into the Press building. He was involved, but he trusted the people he hired and stayed out of their way. You can't ask for more than that in a boss."

A native of California, Breen graduated from Huntington Beach High School in 1988 and attended the University of California at Riverside where he earned a bachelor's degree in political science. It was at the university that he started drawing editorial cartoons for his school paper, The Highlander. In 1991, Breen won the Scripps Howard Charles M.
Schulz Award as the top college cartoonist and the John Locher award for Outstanding College Editorial Cartoonist. He credits cartoonists such as Jeff MacNelly, Paul Conrad, Pat Oliphant and Don Wright as influences in his career.

Breen relocated back to his home state in July, 2001 to join the staff of The San Diego Union-Tribune. His editorial cartoons are nationally syndicated by Copley News Service and regularly appear in The New York Times, USA Today, Newsweek and US News and World Report. His comic strip "Grand Avenue" appears in more than 150 newspapers across the country.

As previously announced, keynote speaker for the event is Jack Ford daytime anchor for Court TV's daily trial program "Trial Heat."

In naming Jules L. Plangere, Jr. the recipient of the 2nd Annual MACE, Jim Hickey, Chairman of Monmouth University's Communication Council and National Correspondent for ABC News Radio noted that "Jules . . . is without peer in his dedication to the education of New Jersey students in the art of communication and the skills of writing. He has given
freely and tirelessly toward those goals for decades."

MACE sponsorship opportunities are available. For additional information or an invitation to the 2005 MACE Dinner, contact Monmouth University's Office of Special Events and Programs at (732) 571-3505.

Monmouth University - Department of Communication Communication is one of the largest majors at Monmouth University. More than 600 undergraduate majors and 60 graduate students study a varied curriculum that includes journalism, public relations, radio, television, communication studies, screen studies, and an MA in Corporate and Public Communication. Students hone their skills with internships and by participation in the campus newspaper, The Outlook; the campus television station, Hawk TV; and the 1,000 watt FCC licensed radio station, WMCX.

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TRENTON, NJ —  At a Statehouse press conference, Assemblymen Michael J. Panter and Dr. Robert L. Morgan (both D-Monmouth/Mercer) today received one of the highest marks among state lawmakers—both scoring a perfect 100 rating—on the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group’s bi-annual legislative scorecard.

The scorecard tallied legislators’ votes on key public interest issues, including: the Highlands Protection and Planning Act, “Fast Track” legislation and its repeal measure, pay-to-play reform measures (A-1500, A-3013), identity theft prevention legislation (A-4001), and diesel fuel emissions reduction legislation (A-3182).

“Our efforts to independently represent our constituents are validated by the NJPIRG’s scorecard, especially on pay-to-play reform,” said Panter, who is a prime-sponsor of both A-1500 and A-3013. “Bob and I have worked persistently to restore the public’s trust in its elected officials by advocating for far reaching ethics reform measures.”

“Mike and I have worked closely with NJPIRG on key environmental issues, but none more important than defeating ‘fast track’ legislation,” said Morgan, who, along with Panter, sponsored a repeal of the “fast track” measure that passed in 2004. “We are proud to lead the movement to curb over-development, especially in Monmouth County, where open-space is disappearing at an alarming rate.”

The New Jersey Public Interest Research Group is a consumer watchdog group that focuses on public interest activism on issues ranging from environmental protection to fostering a responsive, democratic government.

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Monmouth County SPCA’s 12th Annual Pet Walk & Fair
When: Saturday, October 1st (rain date Sun., Oct. 2nd)
Registration: 8:30AM - 10AM (Event ends at Noon)
Where: Marine Park, Red Bank

RED BANK, NJ — Animal lovers: You’re invited to leash-up your precious pooch and join hundreds of other animal lovers on October 1st at Marine Park in Red Bank from 8:30am to Noon for the MCSPCA’s Annual Pet Walk & Fair. Once again, Dr. Brian Voynick, from NEWS 12 New Jersey’s “Pet Stop”, is the event’s Chairperson. The SPCA is pleased to have Red Bank Veterinary Hospital renew their Corporate Partnership for the event this year.

Dogs only are welcome in the park. A minimum pledge of $25 is required to participate and entitles you to a Pet Walk commemorative bandana. Those raising a minimum of $50 will also receive a T-shirt. Walk the optional one-mile course (with or without a dog) through downtown Red Bank, or relax in the park to the music of The Wag, browse the merchandise of our many pet-related vendors, enjoy canine demonstrations, agility, pet caricatures, “Pawtographs,” digital pictures of your best four-legged friend, the ever-“pupular” doggie wedding chapel, clowns, face-painting and much, much more! Food and beverages will be provided by Zebu Forno, Red Bank, All Things Cranberry, Monmouth Beach and Chick-fil-A, Monmouth Mall.

Prizes for top fundraisers include: airline tickets to anywhere in the continental US with 3 nights in a Hilton Hotel. Winners of contests for the best costume, best ball catcher & best vocal performance receive great prizes as well!

All proceeds benefit the animals at the Monmouth County SPCA, a not-for-profit organization that relies on donations from the public to help care for thousands of homeless, abused and abandoned animals every year.

Call 732-542-2030 Monday through Friday for more information or to obtain a brochure.

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MIDDLETOWN, NJ – The Bayshore Task Force is comprised of ten municipalities Aberdeen, Atlantic Highlands, Hazlet, Highlands, Holmdel, Keansburg, Keyport, Matawan, Middletown and Union Beach (78 square miles with a combined population over 164,000). Federal Rangers from Gateway National Park Services will assist in this operation.

The task force will continue its’ saturation patrols throughout 2005 to combat Driving While Intoxication. The goal of this effort is to prevent alcohol/drug-related crashes and reduce personal injury to the public. The ten police departments in the Bayshore area will combine efforts to heavily patrol the state highways, county and municipal roads to remove DWI operators from the roadway. Officers will be patrolling in unmarked, semi-marked and marked patrol vehicles. Violations such as: Reckless Driving, Speeding, Unsafe Lane Changes, Aggressive Driving and other infractions will lead an officer to stop the vehicle and check to see if the operator is driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs. Drug Recognition Experts will be on duty and be able to identify those persons operating under the influence of drugs.

The Police Officers going out on patrol will attend an in service training on Detecting Motorcycle DWI Operators, Methods to detect counterfeit/fraudulent documents with the use of UV light technology, Updates on Standardized Field Sobriety Tests (SFST’s) and the latest court decisions on DWI. Training begins at 7:15 pm at The Middletown Police Department.

The sixth patrol of 2005 will be on September 3, 2005 7:00 PM to 3:00 AM.

The five previous patrols of 2005 statistics:

#Officers #DWI #Oth/Arr Susp. Dr #MV Tix #NMV Tix #Stops

March 17 th 22 4 3 0 19 22 112

May 27 th 31 5 4 1 29 25 146

June 25 th 17 4 5 0 36 17 102

July 2 nd 24 7 7 2 43 22 151

August 19 th 24 4 5 2 31 26 129

Totals (5 patrols) 143 24 24 5 157 112 640

In 2004, the Bayshore DWI Saturation Patrols conducted 8 patrols and yielded the following statistics:

#Officers Assigned #DWI #Oth/Arr #MV Tix #NMV Tix #Stops

Total (8 patrols) 134 49 44 282 249 978

While the police in all of its’ efforts to reduce the chances of DWI related collisions, it is the public and the local businesses that will have the far greater impact in making our roadways safer. We ask that all businesses adopt a program like the Hero Campaign (www.herocampaign.org) and be the real heroes and save lives. In addition, if you see a vehicle operating unsafely on the roadway, call the police and report it immediately! A partnership between businesses, the public and the police, will have a drastic impact on reducing DWI related collisions, lets make 2005 the safest year on our roadways.

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HAZLET, NJ — A young woman was just raped and sits alone in a hospital room. She knows she must find her voice so she can provide in horrific detail, every aspect of what happened to her during this devastating assault, to police officers who are standing by to assist. A nurse examiner is in the next room preparing to begin a thorough exam of her body, inside and out, in order to collect forensic evidence for prosecution.

She is in pain, terrified, feels deeply shamed and has a million questions racing through her mind, but she’s afraid to ask. She’s survived the ultimate, intimate violation to her very being. Will you leave her to sit alone?

You can help. 180’s Rape Care Program trains men and women like you, to become Rape Care Advocates and members of the Monmouth County SART (Sexual Assault Response Team). You need no prior experience. Our comprehensive training will prepare you to respond for emergency accompaniment such as the one outlined above. Additionally, you will receive training in the areas of sexual assault awareness, crisis intervention, hotline counseling, the medical/legal/emotional needs of a sexual assault survivor, and the Criminal Justice System in relation to sexual assault .

Perhaps you are thinking, “It’s a great cause, but I don’t know if I could handle it”? You’re not the only one - most of our advocates felt the same way initially, and you just might surprise yourself. The Rape Care Program’s 80-hour, comprehensive training will provide you with all the tools necessary to successfully advocate for survivors of sexually violence. 24-hour supervision is in place, in addition to team leader support and regular meetings and ongoing training opportunities. We have a strong commitment to support our advocates, as they are the backbone of the Rape Care Program.

Currently, 180 is accepting applications to participate in the 2005 Rape Care Advocate Training, scheduled to begin with a full day orientation on Saturday January 14 th, 2006, to be hosted at the Monmouth County Agricultural Center, 2000 Kozloski Road, Freehold. Subsequent sessions will be held on Tuesday evenings and alternate Saturdays, with a full day session including final exam/graduation on Saturday April 8 th, 2006.

Become an Advocate/Make an impact!

Interested parties should call (732) 264-4360 x253, or e-mail at TammyW@ 180nj.org. Please leave your name, address, telephone number and email address, and an application and information packet will be mailed to you.

(Please be advised that acceptance of registration does not ensure admittance into the program.)

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PRESS RELEASE

Continues through October 7

LINCROFT, NJ – Brookdale Community College invites the community to view "Brookdale Undercover," a collection of fiberarts to be exhibited at the Center for Visual Arts (CVA) Gallery from September 1 through October 7. An Opening Reception will be held September 2 from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Regular exhibit hours will be Monday through Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Parking is most convenient in lots 1 and 2.

The exhibitors include college faculty and staff from areas other than the arts. Among the artists are;

· Brooklyn, NY - Kathleen Offenholley, Associate Professor, Mathematics
· Brick - Eileen Lengyel, Senior Office Assistant - Social Sciences
· Eatontown - Dana McKay, Graphic Artist (retired)
· Fair Haven - Virginia Lee, Professor, Mathematics
· Howell - Claire Berg, Professor, Food Service Management and Robin Hafen, Administrator - Scheduling Services
· Morganville - Marianne Drake, Pam Quatse, Supervisor, Bankier Library
· Neptune - Barbara Peterson, Associate Director - Creative Services, College Relations
· Ocean - Colleen Lineberry, Associate Professor, English
· Red Bank - Carey Fox, Associate Professor, Biology
· Tinton Falls -Suzanne Thomas (former) Computer Graphics Adjunct
· Toms River - Caryl Bender, Instructional Design Specialist, Office of Information Technology

"Fiberarts includes the open area between painting and sculpture. It gained credibility as an art genre in the 1970's," explained Marie Maber, Instructor, Art. "This exhibit will include hand dyed and printed wall hangings, hand dyed fabrics, floor cloths and a dazzling selection of colorful quilts," she added.

"Interest in hosting this exhibit originated in Brookdale's annual May Alumni Association Juried Art Show. Talented College staff and faculty from a variety of departments expressed interest in sharing their creative textile designs. We are pleased to invite the community to this first opportunity to view their fiberarts creations," said Sidney Godwin, Associate Professor, Art and CVA curator.

For more information regarding the exhibit, call 732-224-2618 or 732-224-2520.

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PRESS RELEASE

HIGHLANDS, NJ –

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PRESS RELEASE

HIGHLANDS, NJ –

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RUMSON, NJ —

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VIEW FROM MY DESK Editorial Opinion by Allan Dean

POLITICALLY MOTIVATED RUMORS BEGIN TO FLY

It is that time of year again - September 1st - the sunlight fades earlier, the leaves begin changing, and politics turns ugly - all according to its natural order.

There is a rumor being foisted on us by the AH Dems... That rumor is Republican candidate/councilman Jack Archibald is pro-developer, specifically pro-K Hov.

We hear from otherwise reliable AH Dems that Archibald supports the redevelopment of the McConnell property. 

The truth is that Archibald has said no such thing. 

He DID ask (last year, of a different plan - one which called for multifamily development and was opposed by virtually all citizens present) during a public presentation in July 2004, whether K. Hov would consider putting in single family residential units (as the area is currently zoned.)

The AHHerald reported (AHHerald 7/29/04):

In response to a question from Councilman John C. Archibald, Jr. about whether the builder would consider single family homes for the parcel, McCarron replied, "We are willing to look at other alternatives, and at this point, I'd like to think there is some way we can figure out how we can develop this site to satisfy everyone."  He noted that single family homes would have a tendency to add more school age children.

There could be as many as 19 single family homes built on the lot according to McCarron.

The AH Dems are trying to paint their prime opponent Archibald as something he is not.  He is not pro-develpment.  He is passionate about open space.  He worked harder than any other councilmember to ensure the residents of Atlantic Highlands have Open Space (Lenape Woods Nature Preserves - East and West sections, On Sudden City negotiated for fewer towers and units - reducing the developer's/Middletown plan from 480 units to under 200 and 5 towers to 1, and providing another 7 acres of open space as a buffer on our border, and he fought against Sardine City another project almost completed but with fewer units than originally planned. 

These projects have an impact on the quality of life of AH residents even though the properties were, for the most part, in Middletown.  He cares about AH property owners and taxpayers and has fought for, and obtained funding for, open space for this town.  For anyone to try to paint him as pro-developer or anti-open space is disingenuous and should be cosidered an affront to all AH residents.

After it was disclosed at a public meeting last year that the site may indeed be contaminated according to testimony presented by K. Hovnanian environmental representatives, the DONOGHUE MAJORITY has just now decided to get reports. 

Democrat Council President Carl Nolan says he is just now seeking the info from the DEP - through the Open Public Records Act.  This administration and the AH Dem Majority have done nothing for one year on this issue except try to play politics with it. 

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PASTOR'S CORNER By Rev. Dr. George Hancock-Stefan Central Baptist Church Atlantic Highlands, NJ cbcbeacon@aol.com

View Archive Area Houses of Worship

EXCESSIVE USE OF WWJD (What Would Jesus Do)

After the idiotic remark of Pat Robertson about the assassination of the Venezuelan President Chavez and his unwillingness to quickly acknowledge how wrong he was, many pundits blasted Christianity by articles such as this “Would Jesus Assassinate President Chavez?” or cartoons with the inscription WWJA (Who Would Jesus Assassinate).

As I reflected on this situation, I came to see that Jesus had a very specific focus. He told his followers that he came to do the will of His Father and asked his followers to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness, promising them that all the other things that they need will be added unto them.

As a matter of fact I find that in the Gospels Jesus avoids many situations. When a brother comes and asks him to settle the dispute that he had with his brother, Jesus avoids this by telling the accusing brother that he was not called to be a judge over them. Another time when the ones who were fed by the miraculous bread and fish, came to make him a King he left the place and went into hiding. His brothers and sisters told him that he should go to Jerusalem if he thinks that he is somebody, but He told them that His time did not arrive yet. It was hard to figure out what Jesus would do!

In fact I find that the expectations that many people have of Jesus, are not met at all. In the resurrection morning, Cleopas complains to the unknown stranger that they were expecting great things from him, but that he died. He disappointed his followers. Many people argue that Judah betrayed Jesus because he together with other zealots wanted a revolutionary Jesus. To Pilate who asks him if he is a king he answers that His kingdom is not from this world, but to Herod he does not give even one word. It was hard to figure out what Jesus would do!

I do not know if Jesus would market all those t-shirts that one finds in Christian bookstores, or those Christian records that we sell. I do not know if Jesus Christ would protest at Wal-Mart or work on Wall Street. I do not know if Jesus would be a member of the Democratic Party or of the Republican Party.

Many years ago, Charles Malik, a great UN diplomat and well-known Christian was asked in a Christian faculty meeting about how his Christianity and political decisions come together. His replies startled his audience by replying that the UN cannot make a good decision. No matter how good the decision looks in the eyes of the diplomats, there will be people who will consider it not good. Thus, Malik replied, I strive to make the least bad decision. Secondly, each night I fall on my knees and seek the forgiveness of God for all the bad decisions that I have made, asking God to bring His Kingdom as soon as possible because only then all things will be good.

Hubris and arrogance is dangerous among Christians and non-Christians.

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BODY POLITIC by Jack Archibald, Atlantic Highlands  Councilman

View past articles jack@ahherald.com

EDUCATORS VISIONS LED TO SCHOOL IMPROVEMENTS

As our children get ready to return to school, two local legends are strolling away from our community. In each case, the educators are moving on to challenges that they have worked hard for, and will no doubt find rewarding. Before they hightail it out of Dodge, both Dr.Marty Wallauer and Dr. Brian Zychowski, should be saluted for the institutions that they are leaving behind.

At AHES, the new school year is bringing a renovated and invigorated building for learning. The facility has undergone a significant face-lift, with an expanded structure and a new playground among the amenities. Children will now be able to eat lunch at normal times, open their lockers, and conduct experiments in brand new labs. With the backing of a good team, Dr. Wallauer was able to shepherd the project to completion. Students and faculty will be reaping the benefits of her hard work for years to come.

At Henry Hudson, Dr. Z will also be leaving an expanded facility and an institution that clearly has his stamp on it. One could praise the improvements in the physical structure, but that just sells the man short. His impending move to the Clark school district boils down to what drives him- children and education. In this case, the short commute spells more time for his family, and the Clark school district can count on him giving his all to the education of their students.

To think that Dr’s W and Z built the new schools by themselves is foolhardy. Behind each of them were dedicated Board members that approved and supported their visions. As Dr. Wallauer retires to Florida, her new challenge might just be to writing a novel to occupy her free time. For Dr. Zychowski, the challenge will be a larger school district and implementing his vision for another school. For sticking with these projects to their completion, both of these educators deserve our thanks. Every time we look at those new schools, we will remember their efforts both inside the hallways and outside as well.

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AT LARGE by Woody Zimmerman

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GREAT POWER STATUS ON THE LINE

Last year, during the 2004 presidential election campaign, an acquaintance and I argued by e-mail over presidential politics, the war, military strategy, etc. Although my worthy opponent generally disagreed with the Democratic platform, he said he could not vote Republican because President Bush had gotten us into “the wrong war at the wrong time”. The whole “Iraq thing”, he said, was just “W” finishing a job his father had left undone. He played back all the Michael Moore talking points, including the bizarre view that Islamist terrorists hate us for our policies and actions, and that we had brought on their attacks by offending them.

Our correspondence was considerable. My opponent criticized how the war was being waged – lifting arguments for catching Osama Bin Laden (instead of defeating Iraq) from books like Imperial Hubris: Why the West is Losing the War on Terror, by Michael Sheuer. I cited history to argue the impracticality of catching one person – Hitler, for instance – and defended the strategy of crushing our enemies, one at a time, to bring the whole Axis of Evil down eventually.

I reminded him of the difficulty and cost of defeating Germany and Japan in World War II, and showed how the nation trusted its political and military leaders to fight the war successfully, despite the many reversals and outright defeats that preceded final victory. Repeating comments made in this space on previous occasions, I said I doubted we had the collective will to defeat such enemies today.

I also suggested that he couldn’t be serious about voting for Mr. Kerry, who stood far to the left on most issues and was wishy-washy about the war. Ultimately, I ruffled his feathers by saying that the real “hubris” lay with armchair strategists who thought they knew better than the president – and all his military and intelligence advisors – how to fight and defeat terrorism.

Something like my opponent’s borrowed screed of last year has been going on, during August, down in Crawford, Texas – but with more publicity and (it seems to me) far less wit than we brought to our debate.

A woman named Cindy Sheehan – whose son was tragically killed during our military operations in Iraq – has conducted a highly emotional campaign against the war on worldwide terror. Her anti-war “sit-in” – hard by the Bush ranch – was gleefully covered by White House reporters and assorted camp followers during the dog-days of August, while Mr. Bush vacationed. In the Texas heat, anything controversial was like manna from heaven for reporters. A grieving mother talking trash about Mr. Bush and “his war” could not have been better.

The big media, of course, are avowedly “neutral” about the war, if not actually opposed to our presence in Iraq. Saddam, they say, wasn’t so bad. Things are really far worse now than during his regime. The horror of 9-11 is long forgotten (did it really happen?) and, anyway, we need to “move on”. Terrorism is, as John Kerry put it, just a “nuisance”, like crime, to be handled by police – not a worldwide menace that must be decisively defeated, militarily.

Truth be told, the media would not mind a bit if we left Iraq with our tail between our legs – or if we lost the war on Islamist terror entirely – if it meant destruction of (the hated) George W. Bush and the Republican Party. From where I stand, it appears that the far left wing of the Democratic Party, academic elites, Big Media, liberal Protestant denominations, and numerous liberal-advocacy groups would find military defeat an acceptable price for rendering the Party of Bush impotent for the foreseeable future. My mother-in-law always said she hated FDR, but she was small-time next to these guys. They really hate George W.

I saw Mrs. Sheehan on TV a few weeks ago. She wanted the USA “out of Iraq right now”. We need to bring our troops home immediately, she said, before any more young men die, as her son did. When the interviewer asked for her response to Iraqis who want American troops to stay until terrorist forces in Iraq are defeated, she basically said they didn’t know what was in their best interests. (But she did.) “We have hurt their country enough,” she said.

Mrs. Sheehan’s outrageous demand – completely blind to the serious ramifications that would flow from immediate withdrawal of our troops – is appalling. Withdrawal, or even a timetable for withdrawal, would cost the nation a complete loss of credibility for the future. From that point, what president would be believed if he proposed any military action? Every hostile foreign power or terrorist element would regard the USA as a paper tiger that can be dissed at will.

This potentially disastrous result is not mere speculation. It is historically based. Many of our current difficulties with terrorism can be traced directly to the failures of earlier administrations and Congresses to keep commitments and respond in forceful ways to external provocations and threats. Vietnam, of course, is Exhibit A.

Most historians agree that the Viet Cong were no longer an effective fighting force after the so-called Tet Offensive of 1968. Although our media billed Tet as a great “victory” for the Communists, it actually was a serious defeat. Thereafter, North Vietnamese Regulars took over the war. By 1972 they, too, were exhausted and ready to sign the peace accords. The armistice gave them an opportunity to rest, rearm, and await “developments”.

Those developments were the withdrawal of nearly all American forces, despite warnings from military experts that South Vietnamese forces were too weak to withstand a concentrated attack. But we no longer had the political will to continue. When North Vietnamese forces swept south in April 1975, we stood by and watched. We did nothing. The communists won – not by defeating us in the field, but by outlasting us until our political will to fight was gone.

Legions of present-day reporters and millions of students – even many college faculty – were not even born when the catastrophe of Vietnam happened. Many of them do not realize how it affects our foreign policy down to this very day, and might affect it far into the future.

Another cave-in on a foreign military commitment might be terminal for us – meaning that it would signal the end of America as a serious player in world affairs. Again, there is historical precedent. Defeated in World War II, France’s status as a world power ended in 1954 when Vietnamese communists surrounded and defeated French forces at Dien Bien Phu.

Today, every hostile nation and every terrorist has studied and learned the lessons of Vietnam. Without a doubt, they believe they can defeat America simply by “Vietnaming” us – i.e., by exposing us to prolonged conflict, continued casualties, and a steady anti-war drumbeat. They don’t have to win, militarily. They need only to make it appear that they can’t be defeated. They are certain we shall weaken, grow weary of sacrifice, and finally quit.

Mr. Bush’s government is trying not only to defeat international terror but to undo the damage we did to ourselves in Vietnam. People like Cindy Sheehan – grieved though she may be by her loss – are not helping us. Neither are eager-for-blood young reporters who were wearing diapers when America’s will to wage war collapsed. They don’t realize how tenuous our situation is. If we crawl away from Iraq, we’re finished as a great power. We’ll be Spain with a larger economy.

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WINDOWS ON RED BANK by Daniel Murphy, Jr. Danny's Steak House danssteaks@aol.com

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BUSINESSES, LANDLORDS AND RED BANK

It was around 1960 when I got my drivers license and remember driving past the Eatontown Circle where a large area of land was being cleared. A house was being burned in the center of that area; it would become the Monmouth Mall. At that time Red Bank was the center of commerce. The Red Bank merchants enjoyed being the destination for shoppers but that was about to change. As the Malls in our area developed over the coming years the drop in sales and business started to affect Red Bank's downtown. Sales were off and over the next 10 years or so the town muddled through with businesses like Pep Boys and discount stores with unattractive store fronts became part of the town's facade. Around 1974 to 1975 Monmouth Mall started a major expansion. Strip malls were being built along major highways and like many small towns across the country our downtown was losing business to outside interests. I had only been in business for about six years at this time when
Lou Vieti from Sal’s got me involved with the Red Bank Chamber of Commerce. There was a rally by the merchants in town to do something to compete with Monmouth Mall. I remember going to meetings where different merchants got on a “soap box” so to speak preaching how “these Malls really meant business” and we needed to compete with them.

The problem as I saw it was that the Mall was controlled by one management team and used joint advertising and promotions to generate sales. The businesses there had little or no say over hours, advertising and promotions. I was a little too young at that time to really step up to the plate and help to change the town's outlook on business. Out local merchants were all independents with the old mentality of nine to five business hours and getting them to contribute to joint advertising fell on deaf ears. This was the beginning of Red Bank's slide to being Dead Bank by the eighties. (To be continued)

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SPOTLIGHT ON KEANSBURG by Patrick Pecora Keansburg Councilman

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KEANSBURG COUNCIL MEETING 8/24/05

At the regular monthly meeting of the Keansburg Borough Council on Wednesday 8/25/05 it was announced that there will be two special meetings in September. I do not have agenda’s yet for the meetings but I do have some idea as to the need of the meetings. The first of the two will be on Tuesday, September 13 at 6 PM. This will be a budget review meetings and possibly the council will introduce the budget. If you are concerned about taxes and any potential tax increases for this year, you will want to attend this meeting. The second will be the next day Wednesday September 14 also at 6 PM and the council will possibly award the bid for the repairs of our Police Department building. If the budget was not introduced the previous night then it may be introduced at this meeting. Please help spread the word of these two important special meetings by telling all of your friend, relatives and neighbors.

The last council meeting had a very busy agenda including five ordinances scheduled for final consideration, seven ordinances read for introduction and 14 resolutions. In addition, the meeting started at 5 PM just for a public hearing and information on a redevelopment plan. Unfortunately, due to other issues, I did not make it to the meeting in time for the redevelopment discussion however I do know what area was discussed. g. to be considered for redevelopment. This redevelopment was one of the reasons why a few months back our council designated the entire borough as an area in need of rehabilitation. Since this is only in the early stages, I may cover this redevelopment area in more detail in later articles. For now, I will just say that at this time the redevelopment area centers on the large municipal parking lot on Beachway. Since the meeting had so much on the agenda I will cover it in this article and the next. This week I will highlight information on ordinances approved and the resolutions.

One important announcement I want to make is that our town has hired a librarian and an assistant librarian. The librarian was introduced to the council during the meeting.

Please take note that only four council members were present for the regular meeting so four votes is unanimous approval for this meeting. Ordinance 1382 that is a bond ordinance for 166,250 dollars was approved by four affirmative votes. The funds are to be used for street repairs including Raritan Avenue and a few other intersecting streets. Ordinance 1383 was approved by four affirmative votes and this establishes necessity of a permit and sets a fee for the placement of roll off dumpsters around our town. Ordinance 1384 was approved by four affirmative votes raises the fee for inspections of concrete work around the borough. The fee is increased from 10 cents per lineal foot to 20 cents and the minimum charge increased from 10 dollars to 35 dollars. Ordinance 1385 was approved by 4 affirmative votes. This ordinance requires a permit and sets a fee for the removal of any trees in our borough with a trunk greater then 8 inches in diameter or a height greater then 20 feet.

Ordinance 1386 was tabled to the next regular monthly council meeting on September 28 at 6 PM with four affirmative votes. This ordinance provided for alternate side of the street parking only on Seabreeze and Highland on certain days to allow for street sweeping. Currently parking is only allowed on one side of these two streets. The ordinance was tabled after no fewer then 10 residents spoke out against this proposal. It was rescheduled to that the director of our Department of Public Works could be at the meeting to address residents questions.

As I said before there were 14 resolutions on the agenda. Resolution 174 for repairs to Police Headquarters was held until a special meeting scheduled for September 14 at 6 PM. The remaining 13 resolutions were approves with 4 affirmative votes. Resolution 171 was the normal monthly payment of bills. Resolution 172 was the approval of bonds in the amount of $290,000 to be used to pay for the revaluation of our town. Resolution 173 was a bingo license approval for the VFW. Resolution 175 was a raffle license approval for St. Ann’s youth group. Resolution 176 was a permit overpayment refund. Resolution 177 was a refund for a building permit. Resolution 178 awards the contract for the revaluation of all properties in our town to Realty Appraisal Company. Resolution 179 rejects bids received for the demolition of 120 Main Street. This address is the old KMUA offices. The bids were rejected because the low bid submitted had a fatal flaw and all other bids were over the projected limit. Resolution 180 allows for the re-bidding for the demolition of 120 Main Street. Resolution 181 appoints a new tax assessor for our town. Resolution 182 waves our boroughs residency requirement for two people. Resolution 183 approves a temporary capitol budget adjustment for 71,428 dollars to be used for police station repairs. Resolution 184 authorizes a reserve transfer of appropriations totaling $117,683.14.

As I said at the start this was a very busy meeting and much more occurred. I will cover the ordinances that were introduced during this meeting and some of the department reports in the next article.

Upcoming town events and announcements.  

9/11 Memorial Dedication. – Our town will dedicate a 9/11 Memorial on Sunday, September 11, 2005 at 7 PM, which will mark the four year anniversary of the devastating attacks. The dedication will be held in front of Baywalk East located at Main St and Beachway.

Concerts by the Bay – Due to the phenomenal success our town’s annual “Concerts by the Bay” series has been expanded for one additional week to highlight the talent of a local band. The additional concert will be held on Thursday, September 1 from 7 PM to 9 PM.

Please be advised that the Keansburg Hispanic Heritage Society meets on the First Tuesday of each month at 7:30 PM in the United Methodist Church located at 21 Church Street in Keansburg. Please help to spread the word of this organization and the regular monthly meetings by telling all of your relatives, friends and neighbors.

The Keansburg Tree and Beautification Committee meets on the first Tuesday of each month at 7 PM in Borough Hall. All meetings are open to the public. This organization is still seeking volunteers to help with the many projects they have planned. If you would like to volunteer, please attend any of the monthly meetings.

Please make note that the Keansburg Recreation Committee meets on the third Wednesday of each month at 7 PM in Borough Hall. The meetings are always open to the public. Volunteers are often sought to work on upcoming projects.

Please note that the regular monthly meetings of the Keansburg Borough Council are held on the fourth Wednesday of each month at 7 PM in Borough Hall.

The new Keansburg Waterfront Public Library has a web site however like our library you may find that some of the site is still under construction at this time. However, I wanted to remind everyone of the library web site. The address is: www.keansburglibrary.us. This web site has been built and is maintained by the members of our library committee and the volunteers.

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GORDON BISHOP ON THE ISSUES by Gordon Bishop Syndicated Columnist

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GOVERNMENT LEGALIZED GAMBLING TO MAKE $BILLIONS

Government once spent millions of dollars a year to crack down on illegal gambling.

It didn’t work.

So what did our tax-and-spend government do?

Legalize gambling so they can rake in billions of dollars in revenue to expand socialist government programs. (Why didn’t the atheist-socialist Karl Marx think about that in the 19 th Century?)

Government lotteries are the biggest scam in American history. Government takes half of what the multi-million-dollar winners take when they hit the jackpot.

Every time I see on TV or read about the latest $50 million, $100 million, or $300 million dollar lottery winner, I say to myself, “They have to split half of it with their silent partner (Big Government.).

Casino gambling is big business for our Government. Atlantic City and Las Vegas are endless money machines for the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The more you win, the more Government wins!

Ahhh….to be as powerful and greedy as our destructive Big Government. Big Brother’s hand is in everyone’s pocket. The bigger the stakes, the more they take.

Is this the kind of Government America really wants?

Or do we want a Government that represents all the people, and thinks always first about serving the people – not the massive government they created that is sucking taxpayers dry and many into bankruptcy.

America’s founders would not recognize the United States they created to represent the taxpayers. Government today has chained taxpayers into giving “entitlements” to every special interest group. Isn’t that what King George did that sparked the American Revolution in 1776?

Taxpayers today are in much worse condition than taxpayers who won the Revolutionary War. There were no sales tax, state or federal income taxes, or taxes and fees on just about everything we do in this so-called “free society.”

We lost our freedom when the federal government imposed a fraudulent income tax on American taxpayers in 1913.

What happened to the spirit of the American revolutionaries? Fighting for their rights by declaring war on King George and his oppressive British monarchy.

Didn’t we learn anything from our bloody revolution that freed Americans from King George’s tax terrorism on the colonial settlers in the 18 th Century?

We’re paying hundreds of times more in taxes than we did when King George ruled the original 13 colonials 230 years ago.

America’s taxpayers and voters whine and wail over what their government is doing to them, economically, culturally, academically and religiously.

Why aren’t they leading the second tax revolution by shutting down federal and state governments that are taxing them into bankruptcy?

Why? Because half our country is under the influence of liberals-socialists-Marxists obsessed with destroying America’s Constitution and the morals and values that are the foundation of this Constitutional Republic.

With half our nation attacking America and the other half defending it, we are experiencing our own bloodless Civil War.

Who will win?

Depends on who still believes in the Constitution, God and traditional family values and morals.

With a 50 percent divorce rate and an illegitimacy birth rate of 75 percent in Urban America, can the half who still believe in the Judeo-Christian ethic be able to convert the other half to their way of thinking and living that once made America the greatest nation the world has ever seen?

Stay tuned, folks!

(Gordon Bishop, a “Who’s Who In America” author, historian and syndicated columnist, is the recipient of 12 National and 15 State journalism awards, including New Jersey’s first “Journalist-of-the-Year”—1986/ New Jersey Press Association.)

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OLD OAK TRAIL by Joe Reynolds AH Environmental Commission Member joe@ahherald.com

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THE BLUE FISH BLITZ IN SANDY HOOK BAY

Starting around early September, as the migration season gets going for wildlife, and bay waters begin to cool down from their steamy summer temperatures, one of the most interesting events get underway in Sandy Hook Bay. It is called a Bluefish blitz. No it is not the latest dance craze, but the feeding routine of a popular fish.

Bluefish are at their greatest abundance now and they are thoroughly hungry, but they are also no fools. Bluefish stage their migration pattern to coincide when large schools of baitfish, such as Silverside fish, Butterfish, or Peanut Bunker, migrate out of the bay to warmer waters down south during late summer and early autumn.

Before small batfishes can leave the bay, however, they need to be on the lookout for Bluefish blitzes or abrupt feeding activity. Bluefish are now watchful for schools of baitfish close to shore and will go on a feeding frenzy at any time of the day to devour small fish. It is an ancient pursuit that has been going on for countless years, schools of big fish eating schools of smaller fish.

(A Snapper or juvenile Bluefish caught in local estuarine waters a few weeks ago by skilled fisherman Benson Chiles)

These sensational Bluefish feeding binges or blitzes are an engaging sight to witness. The surface of the water will all of sudden erupt with numerous small baitfishes jumping out of the water in an attempt to escape being a meal for a school of hungry Bluefish. Then just as quickly as it began, it will end, but perhaps only to start again a few feet or few yards away; and to be repeated in bay waters all through the daylight.

Later in the migration season they will journey southward to offshore waters in the Atlantic Ocean between southeastern Florida and the New York-New Jersey area to spend the winter. Blitzes are valuable for Bluefish to fuel their requirements for food and energy for this journey.

Bluefish can be identified by their oblong, torpedo-shaped body that is blue above and silvery below, pointy nose, forked tail, and protruding powerful lower jaw that has many long sharp teeth.

Bluefish are one of the most familiar fish in Sandy Hook Bay. Most people call young bluefish, however, by a different name. Juvenile Bluefish are commonly called Snappers.

(A first year Bluefish that was caught in a seine net last June near the mouth of Many Mind Creek in Atlantic Highlands. This fish was born around late March and migrated from the Gulf Stream to continue growing in our estuarine waters during the summer)

Snappers have an amazing life all to their own. According to authors Kenneth W. Able and Michael P. Fahay in their book entitled, The First Year in the Life of Estuarine Fishes in the Middle Atlantic Bight (Rutgers University Press, 1998), many of the tiny Bluefish or Snappers that we see in Sandy Hook Bay are a result of a spawning stage by adults during late March or early April in waters of the South Atlantic Bight or the Gulf Stream in the Atlantic Ocean. These Snappers then swim all the way from the Gulf Stream to Sandy Hook Bay. They first arrive to Sandy Hook Bay about two inches in length around the end of May or mid-June when water temperatures turn up around 57º F. Snappers will spend the summer as a large school of fish in relatively shallow waters feeding on zooplankton, shrimp and baitfish to grow up quickly to nine inches by the end of summer.

Thus, estuaries like Sandy Hook Bay are of immense importance. Estuaries are a place where freshwaters and nutrients from creeks and streams mix with waters and nutrients from the sea. This mixing of nutrients produces vast plankton population that provides food and habitat for innumerable aquatic critters. Indeed, few areas on planet Earth support such large stocks of fish as estuaries. Without healthy and productive estuaries there would be no Bluefish to enjoy.

My advice to you this September is to head to Sandy Hook Bay to gaze down along the shoreline. If you are fortunate you may just witness a Bluefish blitz, which is one of the bay’s most striking ancient natural events. It is symptomatic of the constant ebb and flow that extends between nature and wildlife during the migration season.

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MA VOIX by Kerry Nolan

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A BREAK FROM TRAVELOGUE

Heavens to Betsy, where does a gal begin? In last week’s Letters section, there is an astonishingly ballsy (and I don’t mean that as a compliment) note from Harbor Commissioner and local Republican Chair Jane Frotton. Mrs. Frotton has lit the first stink-bomb of the local election season, and her sheer brass is worth admiring, even if her facts and motives are not.

I’m not going to get into the “he said/she said” of partisan politics here. That sort of thing will play itself out between now and November, and besides, there are far more interesting things to write about. Like fried cicadas and barbequed frog-on-a-skewer in Qufu’s night market. Here is the astonishing passage from Mrs. Frotton’s letter:

“It is no wonder that the Democrats have become the laughingstock of the community. They can’t get even get the basic facts straight, and have lost all credibility within Atlantic Highlands…”

I would like to refer Mrs. Frotton and the local electorate back to the flier which showed up in every mailbox in Atlantic Highlands the day before the 2004 election. In case you’ve forgotten, let me refresh your memory. The flier accused my husband, Councilman Carl Nolan, of committing a felony by accepting an in-kind contribution on behalf of the AH Democratic Party from Seastreak. The alleged issue was that the GOP was under the impression that Seastreak is a foreign company and cannot, under US election law, make political contributions. The geniuses at the local GOP, under the aegis of Mrs. Frotton, didn’t bother to do the most basic due diligence. If they had, they would have discovered that Seastreak is a US-based-and-registered company owned by a Bermuda-registered corporation. The bottom line is that they were so eager to smear a good and honest guy that they couldn’t get their facts straight - as Mrs. Frotton has once again accused the Democrats of doing.

Things are likely to get even more odious as the campaign engines rev up. I just wanted to let you know that Mrs. Frotton and her increasingly desperate minions are getting their Molotov cocktails in a row and will conduct the kind of slash and burn campaign which all of us should disavow.

Demand the truth from both sides. Demand civility. And place the trash where it belongs.

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FOOD FOR THOUGHT  by Chef Mark R. Vogel

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I LEFT MY HEART IN SAN FRANCISCO 

I recently took a trip to San Francisco where I proposed to my girlfriend on a beach near the entrance to San Francisco Bay. The sound of the ocean, the panoramic view, and the Golden Gate looming over the eastern horizon made for a sublimely romantic interlude; a memory that I will cherish forever.

The second best thing about San Francisco was the food and wine. Naturally as a chef, wherever I vacation, seeking out the local delicacies is always in the forefront of my itinerary. Given that this was my pre-honeymoon, I was in an even greater celebratory mood. Nothing was to be spared on my extravaganza of gastronomic rejoicing. Here are some of the delights that we enjoyed that San Francisco is famous for.

Fisherman’s Wharf may be a tourist trap but it tenders one of the jewels of the Pacific: Dungeness crab. Dungeness crab is found on the Pacific coast from Alaska to Mexico. Averaging one to four pounds they are considerably larger than the eastern Blue Crab. This means more meat for your efforts and in my opinion, better tasting meat at that. Moreover, they are served already cracked. Less work, more meat. It doesn’t get any better than that. Try them chilled with cocktail sauce and lemon.

Although oysters are found the world over, there are a number of varieties unique to the Pacific coast. Although most of them are the same species, they are differentiated by their breeding grounds. Due to environmental variation from locale to locale, even identical species of oyster can vary in taste. Much like the same grape grown in Napa and Bordeaux will taste differently. Regardless of the variety I love oysters and no matter where you are in Frisco, you’re always within a stone’s throw of them. Hog Island, Olympias, Sweetwaters, and Westcott Bay oysters are just some of the Pacific aphrodisiacs that will tempt your palate.

Sourdough bread has been in existence for thousands of years but the term and San Francisco’s reputation for it began in the late 1800’s during the gold rush. Many of the gold miners began their quests in San Francisco where they procured supplies before trekking into the mountains. Naturally their provisions included food, one of which was the prerequisite materials for making bread. The sourdough bread they produced had a uniquely tangy and pleasant taste and hence, San Francisco and sour dough became eternally linked. It would take scientists until the 1970s to isolate the specific strains of yeast unique to San Francisco sourdough. My advice is to return to the touristy Wharf and savor the clam chowder served in a sourdough bread bowl.

The Harris Steakhouse on Van Ness Ave. was my source for a Kobe rib-eye steak. Kobe beef is a type of cattle raised in Kobe Japan. The cattle are pampered and fed a special diet which at times includes beer. It is believed that beer stimulates their appetite. They are also brushed with sake since some producers think that skin and coat quality are related to the meat’s tenderness. In any event, be it the suds they enjoy with their meals or the massages, Kobe beef are incredibly tender and beefy tasting. Of course quality comes at a price. Be prepared to spend three times the amount of a traditional steak.

If you’re a chocolate-aholic, you must visit Ghirardelli’s, located in Ghirardelli Square near Fisherman’s Wharf. Ghirardelli’s is America’s longest continuously operating chocolate manufacturer. For over 150 years they have been producing premium chocolate. The raspberry filled chocolates are to die for. The square sports a number of other shops and eateries as well.

No trip to the San Francisco area would be complete without a meal at Chez Panisse in nearby Berkeley. Opened in 1971 by the now renowned chef Alice Waters, Chez Panisse is truly an American classic. What sets Chez Panisse apart is its unyielding loyalty to serving the freshest, organically grown, local ingredients. Combined with superior culinary dexterity, the result is an epicurean nirvana. As an example, our entrée featured Magruder Ranch grass-fed beef, a premium quality beef raised locally in Mendocino. It cost less than my Kobe steak yet easily rivaled its Japanese counterpart.

And despite my allegiance to French and Italian wine, how can one discuss the delights of San Francisco without mentioning Napa? We took a tour of Stag’s Leap Wine Cellars, a top notch winery located in the Stag’s Leap district just north of the town of Napa. They produce a variety of interesting wines headed by their flagship Cask 23, which along with their cabernet sauvignon S.L.V. where my two favorites.

But the height of my San Francisco gastronomic excursion was our engagement dinner at Rubicon, a contemporary, French influenced restaurant in the ritzy Nob Hill neighborhood. Flawless service accompanied our dinner highlighted by braised short ribs, duck breast, and the 1975 Chateau Latour. (Sorry Stag’s Leap, but there’s just no comparison.) Rubicon was perfect, but of course, given that I was celebrating my engagement, I’m somewhat biased. Mr. Bennett’s not the only one to leave his heart in San Francisco.

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HEY, BEER MAN by Ed "The Beerman" Kelley

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THE BREWERIES OF VERMONT, PART TWO

North on Route 100 a winding, roller-coaster of a road to the sleepy hamlet of Waterbury, where just off Main Street resides the Alchemist.

What’s up with the name? In days of old Alchemists would scam money from unwitting patrons with tales and theories of turning lead into gold among other improbabilities. The scam was perpetrated by the Alchemist asking for increasing amounts of cash "needed" by the Alchemist to purchase the additional "rare and secret ingredients" to complete the transformation process. For grins type the words Edward Kelley and Alchemist into Google and you will be shown a link to the Occultopedia for information on a Rogue, Alchemist and Lawyer named Edward Kelley. The Brewer of the beers at the Alchemist is however no charlatan. The beers we sampled were in a word excellent.

I was beginning to feel like an Alchemist of sorts with my own family. "We are almost there guys...just a few more minutes...be patient...another ten minutes ... I promise we'll be there shortly." Until at last, unlike the Alchemist Edward Kelley of old, I pulled a brew pub out of my hat. Or rather I pulled up to a brew pub. Outside it looks fairly nondescript. An old brick storefront with the name artfully painted on the windows. You enter the door and are greeted by a high ceiling room with a bar on the right and tables to the left. The light fixtures are eclectic chandeliers from local artists; the decor is a mix of unpainted brick, hardwoods and stainless steel. Overall the appearance was cozy and inviting. We had a short wait during which the bartender left his post at the bar and crossed the room to see if we needed a drink. We did. I ordered an ale called “Wild Child”; my wife had the “Hefty Weizen” and the kids Artisan Sodas from a soda microbrewery called "Pop Soda."

My beer arrived and it was hazy pale red, it had little head, little carbonation and the aroma was spicy, fruity with some biscuit notes. The taste was delightfully sour much like a Flemish Red Ale. This beer was very refreshing after a long day on the beer trail. Had the keg not run dry I may have ordered another. My wife's beer was the brewer's cask-conditioned impression of a German Hefe-Weizen. It was fresh and tasty. Better than any of this style I have tried to date. The appearance was hazy yellow with a rocky white head. The aroma was classic Hefe-Weizen, bananas and other tropical fruits, cloves and other spices, hints of bubble-gum. The taste was also the classic Hefe Weizen taste. Slightly sweet malt, a touch of floral hops, like my brew, this beer was also crisp and refreshing. As an aside my eldest son's Lemon-Lavender soda was tasty and refreshing as well. We look forward to picking up more of this soda next time we are in Vermont.

As this is not a food column I will not dwell on the food except to say it was fresh, delicious and innovative. Plates were cleaned, kids were happy and I got a t-shirt. My burger was blackened, topped with bleu cheese and paired with Belgian style fries that were served with homemade mayonnaise. Paired with a spicy, citrusy and very well hopped Amber Ale it was a meal to remember.

Some links:
Occultopedia

The Alchemist Brewery
PopSoda

Next week...the wacky World of Magic Hat!

Until next time, Think Global and Drink Local

thebeerman@ahherald.com

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JOBPATH by Caroline Ceniza-Levine www.thinkasinc.com

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Caroline Ceniza-Levine, head of career consultancy CL Search Services, is also an adjunct professor of Professional Development at Columbia University and a career/life coach. Caroline can be reached at 212-502-8593 or at her website at www.thinkasinc.com.

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SENIOR SAVVY by Bernice Roberts email - bernice@ahherald.com

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A PARADOX: REAL OR ILLUSION?

I am hopelessly immersed in a sea of synchronicity. It is hopeless only because I have no desire to get away from it. Conversely, this sea is so wondrously beautiful and allows my hopes to ride on each wave.

I’m not sure when the synchronicity started but I can think of three things that came together for me recently. There are infinitely more things that engaged in the synchronicity, but this is a column, not a whole treatise. I will name just three. Whole Foods Store, “The Holographic Universe” by Michael Talbot and “The Power of Intention” by Wayne Dyer.

I have always tried to separate reality from illusion. Now I believe I’ve made the discovery to my present satisfaction. Is it final? I don’t know yet. Perhaps that’s the exciting part. If I don’t know yet, then it remains a ‘work in progress’ as is the unfolding of life itself.

We can begin with the perception of matter as an extreme compaction of energy living in a vast ocean of energy. Seeing ourselves and the rest of the physical world in this manner imposes a new standard of conduct. Seeing the interconnectedness of everything in the universe then imposes a new standard of responsibility. In a nutshell, our every action, every word and every intention can be a tremendous force for good. When we perceive ourselves in that context, we become our own (our most benign, if you please) St. Peter on Judgment Day.

From that vantage point just one minor segment of the whole of our existence, our health, is dependent upon the quality of our energy. Has it been depleted by anger, hostility, vindictiveness, or an unforgiving nature? Health then must depend upon the nature of our interconnectedness with all of the energy around us. In a world teeming with energy, the information we think is stored in our head is busy doing energetic things like playing with the matter of our bodies for good or for bad.

Some of that energy, although not really from our head, when it has a negative charge, causes enough static to disrupt the energy paths that should be left open for the body’s good resonance. We might be clinging to negative ideas about ourselves or even projecting some static into the universal pool of energy? We are our brother’s keeper.

So it was that I shopped in the Whole Foods Store where good energy seems to reside. What could the attraction be? It may be the healthy food, the friendly staff, or the marvelous customers who are drawn into it. Again, because of the power of synchronicity, it must be all three. I found here, on the magazine rack, my third synchronous frequency.

The magazine had an apt title, coinciding with my desired state of mind, “Journal of Well Being.” In it, I read an article written by the editor, Scott Miners, “Tune Your Mind to Health.” What better analogy could define synchronicity -- the tuning of one’s mind to attract coincidence? I have expressed here many of Miner’s ideas about our ability to tune into health.

What does amaze me is that these ideas have been told us repeatedly through the ages. It was told us by every saint, every prophet, every mystic who ever walked the earth -- adherents of so many different religions and philosophies that it boggles the mind. When they spoke of these things, could the humans of their time have been too busy with the equivalents of the extreme makeover, laser surgery, consumerism, greed, or the Genghis Kahn syndrome? Why were they not universally accepted? And why, even when accepted, why were their ideas manipulated so that they became merely a source of profit?

Perhaps this is the right time for us to see the connectedness. It is not we and they any more. It is all of us together in the same boat, sharing the same ocean. It is science, as was once predicted, that becomes the spotlight shinning on the disparities of the great religions and beliefs and yet that same science is now the ship that sails their confluence into one absolute and eternal truth.

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highlands happenings by Rebecca Kane Highlands Councilwoman bkane007@aol.com

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disablities week By Daniel J. Vance

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VETERAN ACTOR STARTS NEW NETWORK

Howard Renensland has a dream, and it isn't to be an actor.

He's already been successful in acting, having appeared in more than 300 network commercials, hundreds of print ads, about a dozen soap operas or situation comedies, and numerous regional theater productions.

This 57-year-old Connecticut actor's dream is to establish the People with disabilities Broadcasting Corporation (PWdBC), which would be a 24-hour TV channel “of, by and for people with disabilities” appealing to a general audience. He began late July forming what might one day be called the “Disability Channel.”

“Now is the time,” he said in a telephone interview. “There should be a level of support from the Dept. of Education because they are desperate not to leave any child behind. The Dept. of Labor should be interested because the Screen Actor's Guild released a report showing that only two percent of television characters are people with disabilities.”

The 2000 U.S. Census revealed that about 54 million Americans have a disability, which translates roughly to 18 percent of the population.

Renensland said, “In addition, television is in desperate need of content. We know people will watch good programming that includes people with disabilities. Television is always looking for the next niche. And you also have advertisers wanting to reach people with disabilities.”

Its content will cover a broad audience. Some FWdBC shows won't have anything to do with disability other than having people with disabilities included as a significant portion of the crew and talent base. Its “travel show,” for instance, will be like most others except viewers will know the travel spots are accessible and have hosts that make people with disabilities feel welcome.

In network television, he said, “people with disabilities are an afterthought, if that at all.”

Renensland knows about disability. He has a 21-year-old daughter with an “unknown neurological” disability, who has “poor motor skills” and couldn't walk until age 4. When growing up through sixth grade in Kansas, he had an older, female best friend with cognitive disabilities. He had two aunts with diabetes, a blind uncle, a friend with polio, and another uncle was institutionalized after suffering brain damage from a high fever.

He said, “People in the (disability) community want this as a for-profit channel because we know we can do it. There is no reason why it can't succeed.”

For more, see www.danieljvance.com or www.pwdbc.org

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NO BULL FISHING REPORT by Jay Cosgrove of Bahr's Landing Marina and Restaurant Highlands, NJ

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REPORTS OF RIVER, BAY AND OCEAN FISHING

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We have been weighing in some offshore fish in the last couple of weeks. a 210 bigeye, 2 medium swordfish some small yellowfins and mahi. They are reporting excellent catches from the Hudson Canyon.

 

Fluking is still producing but not like in the beginning of the month. Look for them down off of Seabright Beach.

 

Weakfish have moved into the area heavy this year. Probably with all of the warm water. The reach channel is the hottest spot although I have had reports of larger fish under the Highlands Drawbridge and also along the seawall entrance of Atlantic Highlands Harbor.

 

Capt Rich on the just one more sent me this report:

 

THE WEAKFISH ARE IN! THE WEAKFISH ARE IN! THE WEAKFISH ARE IN! THAT'S RIGHT, WEAKFISH ARE BEING CAUGHT ON WORMS DOWN THE BACK OF THE BAY. I HAVE PERSONALLY SEEN FISH AS LARGE AS 26", AND EVERY SIZE UNDER THAT. TIME TO GO!!!  THE OPEN DATES COMIG UP ARE: SEPT. 2,5,7,8,12,13,14,15,16. CALL FOR AVAILABILITY OF EVENINGS.

    SATURDAY WE HAD ABOARD THE DOUG FREDERICK PARTY FOR A DAY OF BLUEFISH CHUMMING. DESPITE LARGE SEAS FROM THE HURRICANE, WE HAD A SUPER DAY OF BLUEFISHING ,CATCHING FISH TO 16 LBS.!  A NEAR FULL LIMIT OF 15 A PERSON WAS CAUGHT AND ALL BUT 2 WERE RELEASED SAFELY TO FIGHT ANOTHER DAY. THEY ARE HUGH RIGHT NOW.  SUNDAY WE HAD ABOARD RON RAND WHO ONLY HAD A PICK OF FLUKE. THAT FISHING REALLY DIED OFF. THE SAME THING HAPPENED TO THE KEVIN BRANDON CHARTER ON MONDAY. JUST A PICK.

   

AUGUST FLUKE FISHING TURNED UP SOME PRETTY UNUSUAL CATCHES. THE ERNIE APONTE PARTY HOOKED INTO A 400 LB. PLUS SEA TURTLE. IT WAS RELEASED SAFELY. THE RON RAND CHARTER CAUGHT A  7' STURGEON WHICH IS PICTURED BELOW AND RELEASED SAFELY. AND THE KEVIN BRANDON CHARTER HAD 3 COW NOSED RAYS FOUGHT TO THE BOAT AND RELEASED SAFELY. THEY WERE ALL AROUND 40 LBS.!  WHAT ELSE THAT IS INTERESTING IS ALL 3 OF THESE 'EXOTICS'  WERE FOUND IN THE EXACT SAME AREA AROUND A CERTAIN BUOY. WHAT COULD BE THERE ATTRACTING THEM??  THANKYOU.  908-412-9147      www.just1morecharters.com

CLICK ON THE LINK TO SEE THE STURGEON PICTURES.  

 

CAPT. RICH NEWALLIS JR.

'JUST ONE MORE' SPORTFISHING

 

 

Just wanted to remind you that the HI-Mar Fall Striper Tournament will be taking place in October as usual.  The actual dates are Oct. 21 to Oct. 23.  The Mandatory Captains meeting will be held at the Atlantic Highlands Senior Center, starting at 7:00pm.  Fishing will start at 9:00PM and end at noon on Sunday, October 23.  Prizes and raffle drawings will be held immediatel following at the Atlantic Highlands Marina Gazabo.

 

I don't know if you are aware of it but last year we moved our weigh station from Leonardo Marina to the Atlantic Highlands Marina.  This year we will again have our weigh station located between piers 4 & 5. 

 

The following was taken right from our web site www.hi-mar.com :

 

One of the goals of the Hi-Mar striped bass tournament is to raise funds so that the club can help various local charities.  For instance, Hi-Mar supports the Monmouth/Ocean County Big Brother - Big Sister Organization by providing a mid-summer fluke trip for local youngsters aboard local charter boats.  The club has also adopted Camp Happiness in Leonardo, which is a home for blind men.  The club members provide a personal touch for these organizations by routinely dropping off fresh fish for the residents of the home. 

If you would like additional information on the Hi-Mar Striped Bass Club, feel free to contact us: info@hi-mar.com

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IT'S ALL RELATIVE by Amy Shore

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SEEING THE COUSINS

When I was little, it was a big deal to see the cousins! They lived in Connecticut, and we lived in Massachusetts, and we had to go on what seemed then a long car ride to visit them. I remember getting exasperated with my two younger brothers, one on each side of me, in the back seat. As the older sister and the only girl, it was my job to keep them from fighting in the car. They had spontaneous combustion in those days—and anything made them tangle! Boys are like that… Unlike the sophisticated SUV’s today where you have your own bucket seat that reclines, we were in a station wagon with three connecting seats, and our legs inevitably touched. I kept pushing my brothers’ legs over, telling them not to touch me, and inevitably they would fall asleep and there were their legs again. I still remember how soft and plump they were…and how annoyed I was that we physically had to touch. God knows sisters need their space from brothers!!!

But just the thought that we were going to see the cousins was enough for me to have to endure the torture of the car ride. Randi, Stephen, and Mitch were fun! Debbie and Mark were cute! In the family order, we fell in the middle, so we always had someone to look up to and someone to play with. The best of all, though, was that these kids were NOT our brothers and sisters, and we weren’t totally sick of them, and when we all got together, we had a great time. Most often we found ourselves in the kitchen of our grandmother’s house when there was a family dinner. That was great, because we could laugh and joke and eat whatever we wanted without adult interference. I remember Mitch and me “wearing” black olives like rings on our fingers. We told each other family stories—the kind that your parents don’t want you to repeat outside the house—and we always giggled!

We liked to hear from our mothers stories of what it was like growing up three sisters with my grandparents. It was a nice feeling to know that we were all connected, that we were links in the family chain. Of course there were some similarities of how we were being raised, since our moms learned child-rearing from their parents, and that was comforting, too; we were never totally embarrassed by our parents with the cousins, because they understood.

Today we are scattered throughout the country. Randi is a mom in Connecticut, and Mitch is a therapist dad in Oregon…Stephen tragically died in his early twenties…Debbie is a doctoral candidate in North Carolina while her brother Mark is a history teacher in Florida. My brothers are both in the Boston area, businessmen with families of their own. And I am in Texas. In June we had the opportunity of all being together in Houston at my daughter Miranda’s Bat Mitzvah, and that was such a treat, since it is very few and far between when the family gets together anymore. It’s amazing, really, to look into the eyes of your cousins and magically see grown-ups have taken their place! However, when we sit and talk and reminisce, it’s amazing how we are still the same!

The legacy of that visit is the gift we gave to our children. Miranda and Lucy discovered that they have a cousin Maude in Oregon! Maude had stars in her eyes looking up to her teen cousin Miranda, and she loved taking care of her little cousin Lucy. She now speaks fondly of her cousins in Texas when her friends in Oregon talk about their cousins, and it makes her feel special that she, too, is part of an extended family.

My girls were so happy at the reception party, knowing most of those people were their relatives! There was something so special for me to be able to look over and see my Great Aunt Jackie and Uncle Irving, both in their 80s, my parents and my brothers, my Aunt Julie and Uncle George with their grown children Deb and Mark, and my cousin Mitch with his family—all of us in the same room at the same time! Of course there were people absent, painful reminders of those we once loved and lost, but it was special being together one more time… It was, as my mother and I like to say, a ‘carpe diem’ moment.

Since the Bat Mitzvah and our most recent trip to Massachusetts, Lucy almost daily talks about her third cousin Maude, her first cousins Matthew and Jessica, her great grandparents Nana Shore and Zadie, her uncles Jon and Dan, and her aunts Melissa and Abbie. Just like when I was little, Lucy and Miranda love the thought that their Grandma and Grandpa are also their cousins’ grandparents! Their uncles are their mom’s brothers! Again, it is recognition of where they fit into the chain of life…

Miranda wishes we lived closer to the cousins so we could see them more often. She, being the oldest, has a great time playing with them, and they look up to her… Lucy loves running around with the little ones—in a family where everyone is so much bigger than she, it’s refreshing to have family members the same height and weight! Sometimes I wish we could just load up in a station wagon and drive to a family backyard barbecue, but Texas is a long way away from Florida (where my parents now live) and Massachusetts. My brothers and I can’t recreate what we had with our cousins in our childhood, but we can create something new and special for our children. Instead of the station wagon, there will be planes and airline connections in our kids’ memory banks.

Sometimes I wish I could be little again just one more time and go to Aunt Maureen’s house and see her talking with my mom in the kitchen as she prepared food for lunch…eat my Nanny’s tuna fish…listen to my Poppy tell a story… I wish I could push my little cousin Mark on a tree swing…eat Aunt Julie’s famous carrot cake…talk about being sisters with my cousin Deb… I would love putting black olives on my fingers again with my cousin Mitch…laughing hysterically with my cousin Steve…driving in the car with my cousin Randi… It was a time of innocence, of being a child, of being protected in a large, proud family.

It’s such a gift to be part of a family, to feel like you belong, and to have others love you just for who you are. Time may march on, but wherever we are and whatever we do, we always have each other and our special memories. And if we nurture this, so will our children and our children’s children…

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Picture This!View Picture This! Archive

photo ALLAN DEAN

Send your response to editor@ahherald.com If you are the first person with the correct response we'll publish your name and the town where you live.

Picture This! We'll show you a photo each week - taken in Monmouth County - and you tell us where it is located.  If you have not won in the last 3 months and you know the answer, send your response to editor@ahherald.com along with your name and the town where you live. Be the first person to respond with the correct answer before next Thursday and we will publish your name and the town where you live.Only those responses received on, or after, the date above will be accepted.

Last Week's Picture This! Answer

Kevin Gorsegner of Leonardo, NJ was the first person to correctly identify the location of this image. A: Sherman and Sons Jewelers is located at 85 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands.

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READER'S WRITE

The AH Herald provides this space for community commentary on issues of local importance.   We hope you find the information compelling and informative. If you have something to say about a LOCAL issue, send your comments, along with your name, street address and daytime phone number to: editor@ahherald.com

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REMEMBERING MONMOUTH BEACH AND SEA BRIGHT DURING THE 1940'S

Greetings,

I lived in Monmouth Beach and Seabright in the 40's when I was a kid during the war .Some things I remember are the debris on the beaches washed up by the currents ;canteens ,shoes, empty ammo boxes,bunker fuel coated my feet,the Peninsula House and my three girl friends they invited me many times to watch movies there,"Topper" was the favorite.,helping the fishermen pull their Dories up onto the beach was exciting,I could spot them on the horizon coming in like hell with a "bone in their mouth" as they say, referring to the bow wave. The winch operator "Watermelon Charlie" and I were buddies, he worked for the fishermen and lived in the cable shack and ran the boat hauling winch.Occasionally I ate lunch with him in the shack,with the smell of gas, motor oil, and bluefish frying since the engine, from an old model "A" to power the boatwinch ,was in the shack . The cable fed through a slot cut in the wall.

The Sea Bright "Scrappers" ball games, that incredible ball player who's name I forgot.

Gardella's store, (puzzy was in love with my sister). Nick the barber who I worked for delivering telegrams up and down Ocean Ave. for tips. Solomon's Pavillion had the best hot dogs, collecting deposit bottles on the beach, they don't make "spur" anymore or "ping" candy bars eh? El's Pavillion were you could rent a float for 25 cents an hour, Harry's lobster house would buy soft shell crabs from me for .50 cents apiece.

Navy fighter planes flying along the beach 500 feet off the deck, one pilot we knew was from Rumson. And of course the Navy blimps always looking for German subs,they were fun to watch.The day the first aid squad crashed the ambulance into the rocks.I remember seeing the wreckage after they towed it back. The soda fountain next to Nick's, selling beach toys and Suntan lotion kites and dusty road sundaes.

We rented an apartment on the second floor across from the ballfield from Ole Oleson,then there was Willisa Olsen,Ole's daughter who I became aquainted wit She was awfully pretty. There was a town character who would walk up the middle of Ocean Ave. at 6:00 am calling out "rise and shine" to the whole town. There was a woman I forget her name,she was hit and killed in front of our apartment,she was the salad maker at the peninsula house,I was saddened by that event.

My Father and I frequently went crabbing on the Shrewsbury with a net and a mossbunker tied to a string, pull them in slowly and be fast with the net. The crabs in the bucket would point thier eyes at you if you waved your hand near them as if to say "back off kid".Bluefish was a big catch for the dorys "pomatomus saltatrix" I learned later in life was latin for bluefish ..".scar on the gill cover, jumper" is what it meant. sure enough they have the scar,and they surely can jump .One day while watching the fishermen tarring their pots in a bathtub filled with hot tar heated with a fire underneath, it caught fire on top and went up in flames creating a large mushroom of black smoke,those guys got a little careless,luckily there was plenty of sand to put it out.

The life guards,"Digger" who was to be an undertaker and "Stosh" Henshaw,or was it spelled Renshaw who pulled me out of a few undertows.And all the crowd from the badminton court spending everyday at the beach.Looking like tanned leather and Frank Sinatra's cousin from Hoboken who I had a crush on.

I remember the late summer afternoons after a shower and a rainbow would appear over the ocean,what a sight to see those thunderheads illuminated by the setting sun.What a beautiful place it was.I also remember when the train came through late one August day (a few days after the local paper printed a diagram on the first page showing the effect of an A bomb had it been dropped on New York City) ,I thought his whistle was stuck until I saw him hanging on the whistle chain and waving.......it was VJ Day.

Regards,

John Richardson
Skowhegan, Maine

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CUSTOMER SERVICE SKILLS LACKING AT THE ORIGINAL OYSTER RESTAURANT

Dear Editor:

I have a gift certificate to The Original Oyster Restaurant and when I attempted to use it this past Sunday,  August 28, 2005, the owner of this restaurant, Robert Aragon, stated that he would "not honor the certificate".  I stated that it is a valid certificate and he stated that the employee is no longer working there and that he would simply not honor it. 

I understand that this is not front page news, however, I am certain that I am not the only person that hasn't been treated fairly at this establishment.  Robert Aragon displayed absolutely no customer service skills and didn't seem to care how he treated his customers...Hopefully someone finds this newsworthy and puts it in print.  Thank you.

Sincerely

Mary Scherbinski
Farmingdale, NJ

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PET THERAPY DOG MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIFE OF MEDICAL PATIENT

Dear Editor:

I have never really been comfortable in a hospital environment, but I like helping people. So, I decided to volunteer my dog, Sami, to be a pet therapy dog at Raritan Bay Medical Center.

Our first day on the job was near the end of August. As we were completing our rounds in the oncology ward at the hospital?s Perth Amboy campus, a man beckoned us toward a room where a patient had previously been deemed ?unresponsive.? The man asked if my dog would visit his sister.

After the nurses gave us their approval, I brought Sami into the hospital room. The woman was actually sitting up in her bed, with a tracheal tube in her throat. Sami, an eight-year-old Golden Retriever, walked right up to the woman and placed her head on the woman?s stomach.

The patient began petting Sami, but then emotion overtook her. Leaning forward, she grabbed hold of Sami and hugged her tightly for a full minute, shaking with emotion as she sobbed. It was as if her life was fully restored, if just for a minute or two.

It was an emotional moment for everyone in the room, and I quickly realized how wonderful a visit from a therapy dog is. I promised to bring Sami back to Raritan Bay Medical Center on a weekly basis. Both of us are eagerly looking forward to our next visit.

Jay Lillianthal
Marlboro, NJ

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REQUEST FOR YOUR VIEWS ON ATLANTIC HIGHLANDS BAYFRONT

Dear Neighbor:

as you may be aware, last month K. Hovnanian filed an application to build 32 single family houses and 10 multi-family units in a closed community on one of the last unbuilt tracts on the Atlantic Highlands bayfront. The density of the proposed development would be about twice what is permitted under the approved zoning for the tract and its surrounding area. Also, the zoning there does not allow multi-family housing.

The location is at the end of Avenue D and Bay Avenue and is used almost entirely as a boat storage yard. It’s east of the town beach and park at Center Avenue, where the Hobie Cat club is located.

Waterfront for Everyone is a group of people who believe that the property would best be preserved as open space for the entire community.

Last year, over 600 people signed petitions that this group circulated and presented to our Atlantic Highlands Borough Council in opposition to Hovnanian’s proposal for 89 condos on the same property (the Council rejected the plan). We are now developing ideas for the community response to the new Hovnanian proposal, which is to be considered by the town Planning Board in the near future.

We are interested in learning your opinions about the project and your ideas on what our group’s response should be. We are also asking people to join our group and work on shaping and delivering our response.

For those purposes, please take a minute to complete the tear-off section at the bottom of this page (add a page if needed) and return it to us at the address above by Sept. 30, 2005. We look forward to your valued input.

Sincerely,

Eileen Colelli and Vic Simon
Co-Chairs, Waterfront for Everyone
Atlantic Highlands, NJ

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TO: Waterfront for Everyone, P.O. Box 537, Atlantic Highlands, N.J. 07716 (PLEASE PRINT)

MY OPINIONS ABOUT THE PROJECT
_______________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________

MY IDEAS FOR THE COMMUNITY RESPONSE
_______________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________

MY OFFER TO HELP. Please contact me at my phone number _______________________________
or email _______________________ to discuss ways I can be involved.

Printed name:
_______________________________________E-Mail____________________________

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NUCLEAR POWER THE WORST POSSIBLE RESPONSE TO THE ENERGY CRISIS

I was appalled to read James McGovern’s commentary, “Nuclear energy best option for reducing foreign dependence” in Wednesday’s AP Press. While his analysis of the natural gas markets, and our dangerous dependence upon them were right on the mark, his conclusion that nuclear energy is the answer is disastrously misguided. First of all, the amount of net energy required to permit, site, and build the nuke, followed by the energy required to mine, refine, and safely ship reactor-grade uranium, and then clean up the toxic mess and babysit the waste exceeds the amount of energy generated by the plant. High-grade uranium is a resource that is being depleted more rapidly than fossil fuels, and mostly comes from politically unstable areas of the world. It will take ten years or more, short of a fascist dictatorship, to site and construct a new nuke, not to mention the catastrophic health and security threats the plants pose.

There is no magic bullet solution to this mess. The first step is to acknowledge that we’re in this position because we have allowed the energy and weapons industries, thinly veiled as “the Conservative Movement”, to run the federal government since 1980. Ronald Reagan’s first official act was to remove the solar panels, installed under Carter, from the roof of the White House, beginning 25 years of irresponsibility and neglect, and culminating with Dick Cheney’s shady “Energy Task Force”, a wholesale giveaway of public assets and tax breaks to the coal, oil, gas, and nuclear industries.

The solution is not to build more nukes. The first step is to begin a massive reconstruction of our urban infrastructure, building energy-efficient housing sited for passive solar, as well as geothermal, heating and cooling, using solar photovoltaics and wind to generate electricity for use on-site, and connected by an efficient mass-transit system. No giant power plants with miles of ugly, energy-wasting transmission lines. The Green Party is calling for one million square feet of photovoltaics to be installed in Monmouth County as quickly as possible.

Energy costs must be tiered, so that people who use less and conserve are not paying the bill for those who waste. Everyone who drives should be able to buy their first 20 cgallons of gas for the month for $20, and allow market rates to dictate the rest. Similarly, water, gas, and electric util;ity rates should be tiered , so that low income families and those on a fixed income don’t pay the cost for those who chose to live extravagantly and wastefully.

Another key element in the Green Plan is a process called Thermal Depolymerization, or TDP, which safely and efficiently converts any kind of organic waste into gas, oil, and minerals. Instead of trucking our garbage and sewerage sludge to landfills in Pennsylvania, we should be converting it into energy right here in our local municipalities.

Nuclear power has been a colossal waste of our money, as well as the greatest threat to our domestic security and health. It’s time to bury the nuclear vampire forever, and start devoting serious public resources to safe, clean, efficient renewable sources right now.

Greg Orr
Coordinator and 13th district Assembly candidate
Monmouth County Green Party

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GETTTING THE FACTS STRAIGHT ON NEW JERSEY HOMELAND SECURITY FUNDING

Dear Editor,

The facts keep getting in the way of Jim Reilly’s story of denial regarding 11th District towns being politically cheated out of state homeland security funds.

Here are the FACTS:

ONE, Mr. Jim Reilly’s political party, the Democrats, totally control decision-making in Trenton. Governor Codey is a Democrat. There is a Democratic majority in the Senate and a Democratic majority in the Assembly.

TWO, since January 2002, the Democrats have used this power to send 93% of all state homeland security funds to towns represented by Democratic Assemblymen.

THREE, there are 25 towns in the 11th legislative district. Fifteen of the 25 towns applied for state homeland security grants; all 15 were denied. The 11th district is represented by Republicans.

FOUR, neighboring towns in Manalapan, Marlboro and Freehold Township also applied for homeland security funds. All three towns got the full funding they requested. Those towns are Democrat towns represented by Democrat Assemblymen. (Those Assemblyman face a tough re-election bid in November,)

FIVE, Governor Codey’s office has admitted that Democrats outside the Attorneys Generals office exerted influence over state homeland security fund, thus putting to rest any claim that those funds were disbursed without regard to politics.

This all brings us to Mr. Reilly.

SIX, Mr. Reilly serves as counsel to the NJ Assembly committee with jurisdiction over homeland security, over the safety and security of ALL communities in New Jersey.

SEVEN, that committee is, like all aspects of state government, controlled by Democrats.

The FACTS keep adding up to these inevitable conclusions:

ONE, the disbursement process was politicized by Democrats outside the Attorney Generals office.

TWO, this happened to the detriment of 15 towns in the 11th district.

THREE, Mr. Reilly, as a Democrat insider and as an insider on the committee with jurisdiction over NJ homeland security, was as close as anyone could possibly be in the process.

Jim Reilly not only had a front row seat, he was in a position to scalp tickets. If he didn’t know what was going on, he is either incompetent, or is covering up for himself and/or the people who are planning to finance his campaign. Neither is acceptable.

With power comes responsibility. Mr. Reilly should accept responsibility for himself and his political party and explain to each community here in the 11th district how we, on his watch in Trenton, got a big zero. More important, what’s Mr. Reilly plan to right this injustice?

Were waiting, Mr. Reilly?

Kim Spatola
Councilwoman
Atlantic Highlands

F. Louis Fligor
Councilman
Atlantic Highlands

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AUTOS Put your auto ad here   Call Allan at 732-872-1957   AHHerald Boats For Sale - click   Remarkable Bargains BUY - SELL List Your Garage Sale $5/wk. PHOTO ADS Place Your Classified Ad Today 732-872-1957 Place your classified ad in the AHHerald. Reach online readers 24 hours a day. Only $20 per month- up to 25 words. AHHerald Classifieds 25 Second Avenue Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716 AHHerald reserves the right to refuse ads for publication.   MEN SINGERS WANTED The Red Bank Area Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society, SPEBSQSA offers men the opportunity to sing in four part harmony each week with the chorus.  No experience needed, just the love of singing.  Our 50 year old organization meets at Red Bank Middle School, Harding Road, Red Bank every Tuesday evening from 7:30 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in the auditorium.  For more information visit our website at: www.Harmonize.com/RedBank

REAL ESTATE HOUSES FOR SALE Buying or Selling your home - call Patrick Pecora at Weichert Realtors 732-671-8000 HOUSE FOR RENT Put you house online - call AHHerald Classifieds 732-872-1957 OFFICE OR CLASSROOM SPACE Atlantic Highlands - Available for non-profit education or government organization. Contribution for utilities and maintenance negotiable. (732) 291-0485 ITEMS FOR SALE The following items are available for private sale from Frank Niemann in Eatontown. Call 732-389-2150 Click pictures for larger images Blue leather recliner in excellent condition. This is an 84” Teak breakfront with 4 lighted cabinets with glass doors and shelves in the upper unit. The base unit has 4 drawers and 4 storage cabinets. Chandelier This is the 6-1/2 year old 25 CuFt Almond Maytag refrigerator/freezer with an automatic Ice maker. High Energy efficiency. Glass table and four matching chairs This is the 78” sofa that opens into a queen size bed Call Frank Niemann at 732-389-2150 for details about these items. Priced to sell.   Community Websites Select Your Herald Community Atlantic Highlands Fair Haven Highlands Keansburg Little Silver Middletown Monmouth Beach Red Bank Rumson Sea Bright

HELP WANTED Full-Time Retail Retail sales associate of Jaspan Brothers Hardware. Experience a plus. Competitive pay, vacation, benefits and employee discounts. Salary based on experience. Call (732) 291-1500. Part Time Instructors wanted for Poricy Park Conservancy’s nature and history programs. Should have experience working with or teaching children, knowledge of or interest in subject. Training provided. Resumes via fax (732) 842-6833 or e-mail poricypark@monmouth.com. Freelance Software Programmer / E-Commerce E-commerce development company is seeking dependable, enthusiastic, and responsible software developer/programmers to be a part of many internet-based projects. The successful candidate should be proficient in the following areas: * PHP Development * JavaScript * HTML / Dynamic HTML / Style Sheets * Basic MySQL Database Knowledge * Photoshop / ImageReady * Unix, Perl, XML, * Ability to work independantly * Professional Mannerism * Stable work history * Great communication & collaboration skills The projects will involve software / web site, design, maintenance, developmentand testing. To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.Send resume and freelance rate information to Allan Dean via email to: allan@adean.com Call ADean Web 732-872-1957 for more details. CHILD CARE SERVICES Child Care Services in my A. Highlands home. Mon.-Fri. 6-6. Loving mother w/A.A. in Education, CPR certification, and excellent references. Summer camp program. Becky 732-291-3819 Reach 50,000 online readers each week with the AHHerald.com electronic newspaper.  Call 732-872-1957 for information on advertising. Place your help wanted ad here.  A real bargain at only $20 per month (up to 25 words)

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EVENTS: - click here

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CLUBS AND ORGANIZATIONS

For a complete listing of area clubs, and organizations click here

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The Atlantic Highlands Herald Community Websites
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The editor wishes to acknowledge and correct mistakes made in this electronic newspaper and on the AHHerald web pages. If you find an error, please send email to: editor@ahherald.comIf you would like to receive a free subscription to the Atlantic Highlands Herald each week via email, complete the subscription request form found at: subscribe.htm 
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